Pinellas County, Florida Totally Explained

Everything about Pinellas County Florida totally explained

Pinellas County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. Its county seat is Clearwater, Florida, and its largest city is St. Petersburg. The county is contained entirely within area code 727, except for sections of Oldsmar, which has area code 813. It shares area code 727 with parts of West Pasco County. Pinellas along with Hillsborough County, Hernando County, and Pasco County comprises the Tampa-St.Petersburg-Clearwater metro area, often called the Tampa Bay Area.

History

ť Timeline of Pinellas County, Florida history.

Pinellas County seceded from Hillsborough County in 1911, and was named for the Spanish Punta Piñal ("Point of Pines" or "Piney Point"). The Pinellas Peninsula, dividing Tampa Bay from the Gulf of Mexico, and a small part of the mainland were incorporated into the county.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 608 square miles (1,574 km²), of which, 280 square miles (725 km²) of it's land and 328 square miles (849 km²) of it (53.94%) is water.

Adjacent counties

Pasco County, Florida - north
Hillsborough County, Florida - east and south (center span of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge which links St. Petersburg of Pinellas County to the Bradenton area of Manatee County is Hillsborough County so no portion of Pinellas County actually touches Manatee County)

Demographics

Pinellas County Population by year (External Link)
2006 924,413 2000 921,482 1990 851,659 1980 728,531 1970 522,329 1960 374,665 1950 159,249 1940 91,852 1930 62,149 1920 28,265

As of the census of 2000, there were 921,482 people, 414,968 households, and 243,171 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,271/km² (3,292/sq mi), making it the most densely populated county in Florida. There were 481,573 housing units at an average density of 1,720 per square mile (664/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 85.85% White, 8.96% Black or African American, 0.30% Native American, 2.06% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 1.14% from other races, and 1.64% from two or more races. 4.64% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
   There were 414,968 households out of which 22.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.80% were married couples living together, 10.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.40% were non-families. 34.10% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.17 and the average family size was 2.77.
   In the county the population was spread out with 19.30% under the age of 18, 6.40% from 18 to 24, 27.30% from 25 to 44, 24.50% from 45 to 64, and 22.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 91.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.80 males.
   The median income for a household in the county was $37,111, and the median income for a family was $46,925. Males had a median income of $32,264 versus $26,281 for females. The per capita income for the county was $23,497. About 6.70% of families and 10.00% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.90% of those under age 18 and 8.20% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Incorporated municipalities

Town of Belleair

City of Belleair Beach

City of Belleair Bluffs

Town of Belleair Shore

City of Clearwater

City of Dunedin

City of Gulfport

City of Indian Rocks Beach

Town of Indian Shores

Town of Kenneth City

City of Largo

City of Madeira Beach

Town of North Redington Beach

City of Oldsmar

City of Pinellas Park

Town of Redington Beach

Town of Redington Shores

City of Safety Harbor

City of Seminole

City of South Pasadena

City of St. Pete Beach

City of St. Petersburg

City of Tarpon Springs

City of Treasure Island

Unincorporated

Gandy

West and East Lealman (Lealman)

Unincorporated Area - Municipal Services Taxing Unit (MSTU) Budget

Roughly 280,000 people reside in unincorporated Pinellas County, which represents the 36 percent of the County not located within one of the 24 municipalities. The unincorporated areas include communities from the Pasco County line to Tierra Verde. As an unincorporated resident, the Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners serves as your local government. A portion of the County budget (Municipal Services Taxing Unit) is paid by residents of the unincorporated area and is devoted to providing municipal services to the unincorporated area that are over and above the services provided to the county as a whole.
Pursuant to 218.64(1) Florida Statute, the county will receive approximately $16,000,000 from the Local Government Half-Cent Sales Tax Program on behalf of Pinellas County’s unincorporated area population for Fiscal Year 2008 (FY08). This is sales tax dollars that the state returns to the unincorporated area via their default local government the Pinellas County BOCC. The county is intending to only allocate $3,000,000 of it to the FY08 Municipal Services Taxing Unit (MSTU) Budget (a $2,000,000 reduction from FY07). The accumulated effect of having such a huge portion of one of the major revenue sources diverted from the MSTU Budget is having a detrimental impact on basic public safety and quality of life in the unincorporated area.

REVENUES	FY08	FY07	FY06	FY05	FY04	FY03
Ad Valorem Taxes	40,750,020	43,535,660	37,597,320	34,016,890	31,472,640	29,486,350
Local Gov't 1/2¢ Sales Tax	3,000,000	5,000,000	4,900,000	4,750,000	4,970,080	8,291,900
Communications Services Tax	12,838,480	13,200,500	12,384,960	10,971,770	10,432,890	5,914,820
Building Permits	4,612,420	4,379,300	3,987,910	3,506,790	3,040,180	3,638,500
Zoning Fees	702,360	752,840	664,900	576,320	361,000	503,500
Interest and Miscellaneous	701,200	491,820	249,800	235,420	272,000	314,980
Tree Removal Permits	413,860	409,830	385,530	390,170	299,250	199,500
Franchise Fee - PEG	332,500	350,000	352,740	371,300	397,740	401,850
Tax Collector Excess Fees	252,650	189,820	82,150	201,590	138,510	84,780
Sheriff Excess Fees	237,500	215,800	0	0	283,320	0
Franchise Fee - I-Net	123,950	125,000	125,980	132,610	142,050	143,520
Delinquent Taxes & Tax Redemptions	118,240	104,800	97,050	97,050	71,570	93,230
Mobile Home Licenses	117,040	131,570	205,690	205,690	0	218,500
Sheriff Civil Income	84,000	114,380	92,630	88,850	113,490	108,810
Reimbursement of Impact Fee Admin.	60,000	63,150	60,940	66,630	79,760	83,950
Lot Clearing	7,420	29,000	44,180	52,250	52,250	52,250
Property Appraiser Excess Fees	3,810	4,940	4,910	4,990	5,120	4,260
Traffic Court	0	0	0	0	1,741,200	2,049,300
Subtotal - Revenues	64,355,450	69,098,410	61,236,690	55,668,320	53,873,050	51,590,000
Beginning Fund Balance	18,346,670	18,397,000	15,695,020	16,011,040	8,988,910	4,882,850
TOTAL RESOURCES	82,702,120	87,495,410	76,931,710	71,679,360	62,861,960	56,472,850

EXPENDITURES & RESERVES	FY08	FY07	FY06	FY05	FY04	FY03
Sheriff	39,966,850	40,330,190	36,636,150	35,452,420	32,592,690	31,451,180
Full Cost Allocation	5,706,650	5,785,990	4,760,130	3,869,960	4,194,260	3,788,920
Building Inspection	4,174,160	4,612,630	3,927,040	3,794,000	3,545,350	3,411,080
Public Works Permitted Facilities (Stormwater)	3,424,810	3,801,590	3,712,430	3,639,130	3,743,380	3,897,260
Development Review Services	2,951,890	2,983,590	2,696,560	2,578,120	2,417,760	2,364,200
Prior Years' Recreation Grants outstanding	2,760,000	0	0	0	0	0
MSTU Road Paving / Sidewalks / ADA	2,250,000	3,000,000	1,500,000	1,200,000	0	0
Environmental Management (incl Lot Clearing)	2,156,210	2,666,650	2,319,330	2,135,420	2,218,960	1,453,190
Tax Collector Fees	848,180	890,220	781,030	694,120	617,900	493,340
County Connection Centers	764,780	768,320	719,770	557,500	0	0
Property Appraiser Fees	425,020	449,290	423,620	396,240	387,110	300,280
East Lake Library Operating Grant	316,500	316,500	200,000	200,000	200,000	200,000
Economic Incentive Grants	63,800	63,800	0	0	0	0
MSTU New Service Initiatives	0	350,000	3,000,000	3,366,810	7,323,320	4,133,340
Recreation Initiatives	0	2,243,470	2,219,160	2,000,000	0	0
Neighborhood Grants	0	250,000	250,000	250,000	0	0
Other Transfers to Capital Projects Fund	0	750,000	0	0	0	0
Fire Hydrant Systems	0	500,000	0	0	0	0
Communications: Public Access	0	351,100	258,400	324,400	223,760	216,740
Traffic Court	0	0	0	0	581,920	577,190
Subtotal - Expenditures	65,808,850	70,113,340	63,403,620	60,458,120	58,046,410	52,286,720
Reserve for Contingencies	2,481,064	2,685,720	2,048,150	2,007,020	1,320,100	1,581,240
Reserve - Fund Balance	14,412,206	14,696,350	11,479,940	9,214,220	3,495,450	2,604,890
TOTAL EXPENDITURES & RESERVES	82,702,120	87,495,410	76,931,710	71,679,360	62,861,960	56,472,850

FY08 is Request and FY07 to FY03 is Budget

Unincorporated communities not Census Designated Places

Baskin (portion annexed by the city of Largo)

Highpoint (portion in South Highpoint CDP)

Oakhurst

Seminole Park

Walsingham

Unincorporated communities part of Palm Harbor CDP Census Designated Place

Crystal Beach - Has a U.S. Post Office with a post office box mail system. It is a non-delivery office. The zip code for Crystal Beach is 34681.

Curlew

Innisbrook

Ozona - Has a U.S. Post Office with a post office box mail system. It is a non-delivery office. The zip code for Ozona 34660.

St. George

Wall Springs

Transportation

Airports

St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport

Albert Whitted Airport

Clearwater Air Park

Mass transit

Pinellas County has the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) as the public transit provider, with major stops at all local malls and employment centers. There are 197 buses and trolleys that serve 43 routes, in addition to the 2 express routes to downtown Tampa via the Howard Frankland and Gandy Bridges, connecting with HartLine. The 2 main bus terminals are located in downtown Clearwater and downtown St. Petersburg, with routes bisecting and crossing the entire county. During fiscal year 2005-06 PSTA transported 11,400,484 passengers.

Railroads

CSX operates a former Atlantic Coast Line Railroad branch line which sees daily rail traffic from north Tampa though Safety Harbor, Clearwater, Largo, and into downtown St. Petersburg and the adjacent industrial areas. As of March, 2008, the portion in downtown St. Petersburg and the adjacent western industrial areas is abandoned and being dismantled. There is a small rail yard north of downtown St. Petersburg.
The former Seaboard Air Line branch from the western coastal portion of the county was abandoned in the latter portion of the 20th century and converted to a popular recreational trail called the Pinellas Trail.

Major highways

Interstate 275 including the Howard Frankland Bridge which connects northern St. Petersburg to Tampa and the Sunshine Skyway Bridge which connects southern St. Petersburg to the Bradenton area

Interstate 175

Interstate 375

U.S. Route 19 - Alternate 19

U.S. Route 92 - 4th Street North/Gandy Boulevard including the Gandy Bridge which connects southern Tampa to eastern St. Petersburg

East Lake Road/McMullen-Booth Road

Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard including the Courtney Campbell Causeway which connects eastern Clearwater to the Tampa International Airport area and northwestern Hillsborough County

Gulf Boulevard

State Road 580

Education

The county is served by the Pinellas County Schools district.

Emergency Management

Pinellas County has had 911 since 1978. Over the years, the system has evolved many times. Originally the Sheriffs Office handled north county areas and the City of St. Petersburg the south. In 1987 the Pinellas County Emergency Communications Center was formed and assumed the role of 911 center for the central and northern portions of the County. A year later “Enhanced 911" was installed countywide. The most recent change to the system occurred in December 1991. The Pinellas County Emergency Communications Center became the primary answering point for ALL 911 calls within the County.

You can listen to this agencies EMS, Police and Fire as well as Clearwater Police at Live Radio Scanner

Fire Departments

Palm Harbor Fire RescueFurther Information

Get more info on 'Pinellas County Florida'.

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