[Goldwingnut]

Originally Posted by Jmiller176

I concur. Got my official letter today. That is a steep increase.
Is there a definitive reason why?

Yes, the county residents wanted better ambulance service availability and wanted the service provided by the fire departments instead of the private contractor AMR. This has a cost, and this is what you are seeing.

The fire assessment hasn't gone up in over 10 years and it never covered the cost of the basic fire service, last year the $124/developed property covered just over 20% of the actual fire service costs, the rest came out of the general fund that is about 50% funded by property taxes. The new assessment covers the cost of fire protection service for both fire departments. The cost of transport services (ambulance service) that isn't covered by insurance/direct payment is covered in the general fund budget for both FDs.

Businesses will take a huge hit as commercial industrial and intuitional properties now pay by the square foot instead of the flat $124, and apartment complexes that used to pay $124/year for the entire complex now will pay $323.64/year for each dwelling unit/apartment.

If you live in The Villages, a significant part of this increase is also due to the No vote for the Independant Fire District. While there would have been an increase in cost due to the increase in services (ambulance availability) provided, Villages residents make up about 80% of the property values in Sumter County and likewise of the individual developed properties; the fire service budget for the VPSD is only slightly larger than the Sumter County FD, this means that the Villages residents are funding 100% of VPSD and over 50% of the Sumter FD cost. Had the IFD been approved this extra 50% would not have been paid by Villages residents. It's all simple math.

While it was inevitable that the total cost was going to go up due to the increased services, Village residents can thank the those few vocal misguided organizations and individuals that spread their misinformation and distrust so well for the additional cost being carried. This is two elections in a row that these groups have screwed things up for the residents, let's hope that they don't have the same success (?) in the next election cycle.