Quote:
Originally Posted by mrf0151
Villages Separate Fire District Referendum
This is from a friend who follows all of the political issues in both The Villages and the surrounding counties. She has checked out the fire department thoroughly and lists the facts below.
Info regarding the referendum on the November 8th ballot.
She has been following the The Villages’ push for a separate fire district. She met with Chief Cain & Deputy Chief Goodworth on Friday, July 22nd and followed up with an email to Jim Goodworth on August 1st to clarify some of her questions and received answers August 3rd, and then attended a VHA meeting at Miona on September 14th.
Here is what she learned.
The fire department staffers calculated the new fire assessment fee. Based on the results of this analysis, she determined that Instead of paying $124.00, they will be paying $516.00. Your fee will be different from others because all properties ARE NOT being assessed the same fee. The fee will be based on the MARKET VALUE of your house. A home in your neighborhood may be paying more than you or less than you, even though you will be receiving the SAME SERVICES. If your house burns, or another house burns, both will still get the same number of responders and fire trucks no matter how much of a fee has been paid.
There is no cap on the residential fees that will be charged, and they can increase yearly. There is a cap on commercial properties … Guess who that benefits?
There ARE NO NEW SERVICES if the referendum passes.
Ambulances have been purchased and are ready to go October 1, 2022 and will be staffed with paramedics from the fire dept.
If the referendum is voted down, the county continues to fund the fire dept. (FUNDING HAS NEVER BEEN DENIED BY THE COUNTY) and we continue to receive all the services we have been getting.
The referendum, if passed, would set up a NEW TAXING DISTRICT controlled by The Villages for the first 3–5 years before we can start electing villagers of our choice. If the referendum is passed, it cannot be reversed or undone. It is here to stay!
Please vote NO on this referendum on November 8th. OUR NEW ambulance service and existing fire department will not change if you vote NO!
Please forward to fellow villagers . . . . . .
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ANYBODY THAT DID ANY RESEARCH WILL KNOW THAT THIS DOES NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE REDUCTION IN THE SUMTER COUNTY TAXES! PLEASE GIVE COMPLETE FACTS BEFORE SPREADING YOUR INCOMPLETE PICTURE.
All I know is that this whole thing started with a vote to merge the current villages fire department into the Sumter County Fire department. We all know how good Sumter was with Ambulance service! Why would we want them to take over the fire department also. Without a separate district, Sumter can do whatever they please with both the ambulance and fire departments. They would not need a referendum! Once the district is finalized, they lose the option to merge the departments.