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Originally Posted by john352
There does not appear to be a fire impact fee in Sumter County; but, there is in Lake County In the March 23, 2020 issue of the Daily Sun, there is an article on page C3 about a new million-dollar fire truck that can reach the top of the new Brownwood Hotel and Spa. The article does not tell the current Sumter County property taxpayers who is paying for this million-dollar fire truck. The important question is: when new fire stations and/or equipment are needed in Sumter County due to new commercial and new residential construction, who pays? Is it the current property owners or the new homeowners and new business construction via a fire impact fee? I believe that the “FIRE ASSESSMENT” on my property tax bill should only be paying for the operation of the existing fire stations and the replacement of obsolete equipment. My 2020 fire assessment was $124.
For many years, Lake County has an impact fee for “Fire”, in addition to Road, School, Parks, and Library. As of March 2020 for a new home, the fire impact fee is $390. For most commercial buildings (including hotels, motels, and medical offices) it is $1095 per 1000 square foot. Note that for hospitals the fire impact fee is $361 per 1000 square feet. If you are interested in seeing the Lake County impact fee schedules, here are the links: Residential and Commercial.
Sumter County should have had fire impact fees in place years ago. Now is the time for the Sumter County Commissioners to establish a fire impact fee so that the current property taxpayers, who are also voters, are not burdened with the expansion of The Villages. |
The yearly fire assessment fee currently brings in maybe $9M, nowhere near enough to fund the County & Villages Fire/EMS services. In the 2019 County budget $10.4M was allocated to the County FD and $14.5M allocated to the Villages FD. The County also took out a $2.3M loan to pay for the new fire station off of 44 by I-75.
I would guess County taxes are paying for any new apparatus.