Quote:
Originally Posted by Byte1
So, we are supposed to take someone else's assurance that having an independent FD will be better, based on faith? Maybe it will be better, and I am not suggesting otherwise. The point most folks are concerned about is the possibility of an unneeded additional cost. For some on here, money is not a concern but some of us are on a fixed income and have a tendency to examine things thoroughly. Interesting that this issue is being discussed this close to the election. I'll be pulling the proverbial "lever" next week for early voting and I am not going to make the choice to change with my lack of understanding of what the results might be. You can say, that's on me.
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Like you, I was initially against this proposal. My concerns were that it could be used as an excuse for the county raise taxes through a backdoor method, and that I might very well end up paying substantially more than a person on the next block for the same service because of the milage rate tied to a home's assessment.
However, looking deeper and thinking about it, the services cost what they cost, and therefore the proposal should be cost neutral. Likewise, unless the county plays games, it should be revenue neutral as well. And the county can play games with the tax rate whenever they want anyway. As far as paying more than a neighbor for the same service, we already are---3/4 of the fire services cost comes out of the general revenue which is of course based on home assessment.
Given all that, I've reconsidered and will support the new IFD---since I'm pretty sure that a merger of the two fire depts would result in a decrease in service to TV, something worth avoiding.