Quote:
Originally Posted by Normal
Thanks for the info. Please keep us posted. Most citizens we know of were/are concerned that they would be paying to subsidize Wildwood and The Villages fire if we were paying taxes to Wildwood already. We are already on the hook to pay for police for the unincorporated area of Sumter Co. through the sheriff’s office. Possibly the next phase would be to have a higher unincorporated Sumter Co tax rate for those that are not part of a municipality?. There is no need for a Wildwood/Villages resident to pay for both Villages fire and Wildwood fire. Leesburg, Fruitland Park and Lady Lake residents would also be in the same boat.
Florida law states: “the property assessed must derive a special benefit”. There would be no special benefit if incorporated residents were paying for fire for their city also.
https://www.districtgov.org/PdfUploa...w%203-8-24.pdf |
There is no such thing as Wildwood Fire. Fire protection for Wildwood is provided by the Sumter County Fire Department (SCFD).
When the VPSDDD becomes active:
- Sumter County residents within the VPSDDD boundaries will pay VPSDDD assessments.
- Those outside the boundaries will pay a new, yet to be determined, SCFD MSTU assessment.
- No one will pay both assessments.
- Theoretically, the Sumter County property tax rate will be decreased by the 1.3mils that is currently funding fire protection in the county.
I did not hear the details on how the agreements with Marion and Lake counties may be adjusted to accommodate the VPSDDD assessment structure. The two upcoming meetings would be the ideal place for those residents to ask that question.
A higher tax for the unincorporated portion of Sumter County makes no sense. A property is either within a taxing district or it is not. My home is within Sumter County but it is not within Wildwood; from what you wrote it sounds like yours is within Wildwood which means it is also within Sumter County. There is no "outside Wildwood" taxing district or municipality to collect the taxes.
Any increase to my Sumter County tax would also increase your Sumter County tax.