Are we getting what we pay for? Pinecrest ponders

Many folks living in Pinecrest want their own city, even if it means paying more for services.

“You get what you pay for,” says Jay Kalinsky, a Pinecrest resident for 15 years.

Residents who responded to an informal Neighbors poll say they pay more than their fair share of taxes but feel that they get less than a proportionate share of services.

Exactly how much they pay and how much they receive is not known. The county is studying the matter.

According to incorporation supporters, Pinecrest has a property tax base of between $1 billion and $1.6 billion, with values increasing as homeowners rebuild after Hurricane Andrew. There are incorporated cities in Dade that operate with smaller tax bases.

An estimated 14,000 people live in the Pinecrest/Palmetto area. Pinecrest’s boundaries extend roughly from Southwest 77th Avenue to Old Cutler Road and from the Snapper Creek canal to Southwest 136th Street. But the west boundary may be extended to U.S. 1.

Gary Matzner, a resident who has been leading the incorporation movement, said area residents want to control their own issues — police, fire and zoning.

Police protection is one area many residents feel needs improvement. Some residents, such as Kathy McGilvary, said police have responded slowly to their burglar alarms.

“We’re for incorporation primarily so we can handle our own police department,” she said. “We’ve had false alarms, and the last two times it took the police over four hours to respond. They could’ve had a moving truck come in and move us out in that time.”

Metro-Dade police say emergency calls get priority because too many burglar alarms are false alarms. Since the incorporation push began, Metro police have started a program to improve relations between residents and police.

Many Pinecrest neighborhoods — including Devonwood, Banyan Hammock Lake, Pine Bay Estates and Snapper Creek Lakes — pay extra for off-duty state troopers to patrol their areas. Other residents favor incorporation to preserve community identity, increase property values and keep homes on acre lots.

Not all Pinecrest residents want their own city.

“It would add another layer of government with its attendant bureaucracy,” Joseph Jennings told The Herald

Photograph

Caption: THEY WANT CHANGE: Gary Matzner, Evelyn Greer and Priscilla Rivera, at Hirni’s Fruit Stand, are hoping for the incorporation.

Credit: Alex Kolyer / For The Herald