Hopefully, below is a fair description of what is true today.
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Originally Posted by Romad
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.
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Fire prevention funding comes from two taxes today. The first is the $124 that is assessed to every property and the second is approximately 1.65mils of your property tax. For the $350,000 home with a $250,000 assessment that would be $124 + $412 = $536 today. (the numbers in the quote above add to $599 max with the IFD)
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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.
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The projected budget for 2024, the first year the IFD would be in effect, show a $14M to $20M reduction in taxes. (NOTE: this is a projection an entire year in advance, the real budget won't be worked on until June 2023.) While I don't understand why the reduction isn't the full $28M, it is certainly more than nothing. Because it looks like property taxes will be reduced by less than $28M, I anticipate having to pay $60 more if the IFD passes.
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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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Currently, the VPSD falls under the Villages Center CDD (VCCDD). This CDD is a landowner appointed board meaning it is chosen by the Developer. If the IFD does not pass then the VPSD will remain in control of the Developer-appointed VCCDD. If the IFD passes then two and four years later we will vote for the Supervisors that control the IFD. So there is a choice: possible Developer control for four years or definite Developer control for the foreseeable future.
The VCCDD does not have the taxing authority the IFD would have so they cannot raise our fire protection taxes. However, we have been told time and again that a funding request from the VPSD has NEVER been turned down. That being the case, what is keeping the VCCDD from making a funding request today for 25% more and having it passed along like all their other requests have been?
The IFD has risks but keeping things the way they are has risks too. I think it's a good sign that the VPSD is providing information and answers. The IFD page on districtgov.org even has a calculator to show what your IFD tax should be. On the other hand, while I have heard why the IFD would be a good thing, I wish they would spend time explaining why declining the IFD would be a bad thing.