Quote:
Originally Posted by ton80
The cart is in Front of the Horse
Before we argue who pays what and how, we need to know and agree what the required expenditures are. I have not seen any public document that addresses why the very large cost and personnel increases are justified. This is something that the Sumter County Commissioners need to review and address.
1. Budget Review and Personnel Planning
There is a need for a fundamental review of why the two Fire Districts/entities need some 50 million dollars more and many more firefighting personnel to serve Sumter Co. I have not seen any discussion on this topic and I believe it is the starting point and the fundamental issue.
2. How To fund The Approved Plan and Budget
This is what the study addressed and looking at how other Counties/Districts financed their budgets is instructive and provides a comparison to Sumter County approach. It appears to me that Sumter County lays the burden more heavily on the homeowner compared to Businesses. Why should the Lofts, for example, only pay the same as any single home owner and not much more since the Lofts have many housing units. Lake County spreads out the cost in a more equitable way.
Looking back at the discussions regarding the Independent Fire District discussions and vote, I believe that the IFD was not approved since there was no indication of how the Sumter County Budget would be revised. It is time to have it all out in the open and explained clearly IMHO.
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So clearly you have not been paying attention to the news and you have not read the preceding posts.
Are you not aware that the 2 fire departments are taking over the ambulance service for the entire county, that they have to purchase ambulances and equipment and hire people?
And don't you know that the fire fee only pays a portion of the fire department costs. It also is a significant portion of our property tax payment. In fact, I think we should consider eliminating the fire fee and have it totally covered by the property tax.,