[Goldwingnut]

The $124 MSBU Fire Assessment only pays about 20% of the total cost of funding both fire departments, the rest comes from the General Fund. If the IFD is approved the $124 MSBU assessment will be replaced by a similar MSBU in both fire districts that will collect the same $124 from the properties in each of the fire districts for the properties they serve. This will represent about $2.5M in the Sumter County FD budget and about $6.5 in the V IFD budget. The $124 never has and was never designed to pay for the entire fire service costs, it is a minimum that every property pays because there are many properties in the county that pay $0.00 in county property tax.

The BOCC in July issued a contract to a company to determine the Sumter County FD costs from the General Fund, once determined the entire amount and the VPSD cost allocation will be removed from the General Fund budget and the millage rate will be reduced to everyone in the County that will equal that amount. The is being done so that you the taxpayer is not double taxed for either the same service and don't get taxed for the fire service costs of the other fire district. THIS IS THE PART OF THE PICTURE THE OP AND THE OTHER NAYSAYERS HAVE CONTINIOUSLY NEGLECTED TO MENTION AND DON'T WANT YOU TO HEAR. YOUR PROPERTY TAX WILL DECREASE. Yes, there will be a new fire assessment MSTU that will replace some or all of the decrease depending on your property value.

The VPSD and District Staff do not discuss the millage rate decrease because it is not under their control. It would be irresponsible to do so. Just because they do not discuss it does not mean that it is not being addressed, it is being addressed by Sumter County even now.

Making these uneducated posts such as the OP has is irresponsible!

I am working on a video that I will put out in about a week or so that will attempt to explain ALL the parts of the IFD process and answer the questions and fears most common to most people.

From my vantage point the IFD is a good thing for Villages residents, and I'll vote in favor of it, as a Sumter County Commissioner the IFD brings with it its own set of major headaches that I and the other Commissioner have no control over initiating or stopping but will have to deal with. I'll try to explain these in the upcoming video.