[Goldwingnut]

Originally Posted by Dond1959

Don, thank you for doing this. Clarification is needed for the following:
1. What will the BOCC process be for reducing the property tax assessment for the reduced budget requirements in 2023?
2. Is it possible to give an estimate for the impact on a $300,000 or $400,000 home? Could it show the fire levy and the potential reduction in property taxes?
3. A discussion of how we got here, with the BOCC appointing a committee to look at fire and ambulance services and the committee recommending combining Sumter and Villages departments.
4. A link or description on how to get your own homes estimated fire levy.


Thanks.

Thanks for the questions. Here's some quick answers to some of them.

1. Here's an earlier post with the description of what is happening on the county side of this issue - Independent Fire District Cost Impact Information

2. & 4. Start with Florida Fire districts quicksearch to find out the estimated fire assessment. I'll go into the math in more detail in the video.

3. I'll touch on this in the video but not in great detail. There is a wealth of information available online, I'd suggest with researching the Daily Sun's new article on the topic from last summer. The bottom line is that the response times for the ambulance service (AMR) to get onsite for transport sucked, the BOCC formed a committee to figure out what to do, the BOCC made the final decision to have the FDs take on the ambulance/transport service like most other FDs do in FL. An off shoot of this was the formation of an IFD. Our state representative put forward a bill for the formation and it passed with unanimous (I believe unanimous to be correct) approval by the house, passed by the state senate, and signed by the Governor, the next step is the public approval - the November 8th referendum.

Thanks again for your input.