[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by Goldwingnut

What's not been pointed out, because it not under control of the district staff, is that as a part of this divestiture from the county, the county will have a decrease in property tax proportional to the amount of the fire department(s) budget and that they (the county) will have a similar separate tax levied on the county (non-villages) residents for fire service. The county fire service will have a similar funding process as The Villages. This should offset a significant portion of the increase that has been presented. The district staff can't speak to this because it is out of their control, it is in the hands of the county staff and the county commissioners.

The true test will be to see what the county plans to do with taxes, if they don't do a tax cut to compensate for the services they will no longer be providing/funding then we, the taxpayers, need to rise up and let our voices be heard. The time for this however is not at budget approval time in September (like what happened 3 years ago), the time is during the budget workshop process that is happening now. These workshops draw few to attend, mainly because they don't understand the process. These workshops are when the decisions are made, and the changes can happen. Don't let them slip by, they've already started. When September rolls around this is just a formality, the final approval, what is required by Florida law, the time for change will be long past.

Understanding how your government works is essential in making it work for you and the way you want it to.

What leads you to say "will have" in the first highlight above? The county pays for its fire protection and ambulance service today partially through property taxes. Why is there any reason to believe that will change? If the county no longer pays for emergency service within the Villages then the county will have a budget surplus but what reason is there to believe they will cut taxes? They *could* leave the property tax rate as it is and use some portion of the surplus to enhance emergency services outside the Villages.

September is too late to make changes to the county budget for this coming year but the independent district would not begin to operate until the 2024 fiscal year. Would this September 2022 budget have changes for the new district or would those changes be part of the budget created a year from now?

September 2022 may be too late to change the budget but it isn't too late to make a decision on the independent district. If the budget that comes out this September doesn't appear favorable then it could affect the vote in November.