Shockingly, a Democrat drafted a good explanation of the IFD. I recommend reading this, even with the unnecessary opinions in it.
Vote No on the Independent Fire District
by Democratic Candidate for State Representative District 54 Ash Marwah
Please vote NO on the Fire District because it is nothing but a tax increase on us. There are so many things wrong with it. Here are a couple of those wrong things:
1) We will be charged three different types of Fire Taxes:
First tax: $124 flat fee per parcel, that means everyone pays $124, a homeowner or Waterfront Inn or a commercial property, all pay this flat $124, which is totally unfair to homeowners when commercial properties are paying the same fee.
Second tax 0.75 mil on improvements on your property, which is your Market Value - Land Value (This tax will be based on the valuations in June 2023.)
For a house with market value of $350,000 and land value of $50,000 in June, 2023, this tax will amount to 0.75 (350-50) = $225. This tax is also unfair to homeowners because commercial properties have much higher land value, therefore their deduct from the Market Value is much higher, lowering their tax burden and in turn increasing the tax burden on homeowners.
The third Tax is a 1 mil tax on the assessed value of your house in June 2023. Let us say for the house with market value of $350,000 has an assessed value of $250,000 then this tax will amount to 1 X 250 = $250
This third tax of 1 mil may be applied partially, meaning half or quarter of the 1 mil depending on the need as determined by a new Board of the Fire District.
Together, these 3 taxes could add up to $150 to $600 more in taxes for you. Houses on the golf course or water front, which have higher land value will fare better than other houses.
2) The County should ideally reduce our taxes by the amount of increase in taxes in the Fire District, but they are not doing it.
3) The initial five-member Board of the Fire District is appointed by the Governor, 2 for 2 years and 3 for 4 years. That means for the first four years, we are at the mercy of the majority of 3 out of 5 Appointed Board. They can raise our Fire Taxes, make long term agreements with the Developer, borrow millions or issue bonds, etc. The list is endless, and we are voting in good faith that they will do right by us. What if they don't? What if they raise our Fire Taxes 25%? There is nothing we can do about it.
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