Villages Fire Service
 

Hi
I am writing this as a resident and a Villages Firefighter. Bradley Arnold is trying to take away your Fire Department! It sounds strange, but it is what is happening. I am not going to belittle the men and women of Sumter County FD or AMR, but your Villages Firefighters are under attack. We provide you with many services that neither organization will provide. We as an organization do it for less per call than Sumter FD with better manning. Our Firefighters are treated better because the residents care to have the best services. Take a look outside of the Villages and see if there is a difference, I will discuss and or answer any of your questions truthfully and the best I can if you have any. You all need to let The Sumter Board of Commissioners know you want to keep your Villages Firefighters. Sorry this is so long. I know there will be trolls and naysayers and that’s okay, I just wanted you all to know what is going on.
Stay safe

Good post.
I think you should continue to share your views, maybe pro's & con's, etc.
Ignore trolls, we can all see them and smell them.
Good Luck.

I appreciate all of your hard work, and I had first hand experience with a problem at our house before we ever moved in, I was impressed with the response and the follow-up, a former volunteer fire fighter.

I’d like to know your take on this action it just seems like another FIRE TAX on what we are already paying.
“ Villages Fire Chief Edmund Cain is scheduled to present a plan for an independent special fire district to the ad hoc committee on Aug. 4. The district would not be subject to county oversight and would have authority to levy taxes and impact fees.”
What’s the rest of the story time will tell.

Please tell us more would love to hear your views.

About a month ago had a very strange experience with our fire alarms beeping one after the other and called for help.

The firefighters were great and fast and showed us what was going on.

Fire tax
 

In answer to your question. A special Fire district tax assessment would be in place of your county Fire tax assessment. You would not be charged twice. As a matter of fact, special tax districts answer to an elected board that only deals with that issue and are held to a higher financial accountability and openness despite what Mr Arnold has stated in the papers. The other thing he is not telling you is the Sumter County has many things in other budgets that are not included in the Sumter FD budget that are included in the Villages budget, such as Fire inspections. The Villages Public Safety Department operates on a budget that is less per call and with better manpower than Sumter FD.

So we have two options…..
1) pay a fire tax to the county (overseen by county commissioners) who in turn pays the Villages fire department OR
2) pay a fire tax directly to The Villages Fire department (which would be overseen by an independent body)?

No, there are really3 options as it stands right now. Things can stay the same as now, which is Sumter Co. paying through your tax money for the Villages Fire.
Or
They would take over everything under Sumter FD
Or
The Villages Fire could become its own tax district, independent of the county.

I feel it should be up to you the residents of the Villages to decide, not Mr Arnold or the Commissioners. You moved to the Villages for a reason. You wanted the best place to live and retire to. Don’t you want the best services? Sumter County was one of the poorest counties in Florida before the Villages. The Villages FD was formed over 20 years ago because they could not provide the service to -the residents, and they still cannot.

What impact would this have on Villages located on the historic side where the fire station response comes from the Paradise area and/or in the Lady Lake portion of the Villages?

If we became a Fire district, none as you would fall into that area.
If things stay the way they are now, none
If Sumter Co took over, the short answer is I’m not sure. It would be up to the lake county areas and the VCCDd to decide.

Thanks for the information about this.

I’ve seen The Villages fire response. You guys are the first responders for medical emergencies, right? I’ve seen the truck pull up to a restuarant, twice, when a customer was having a medical issue.
The EMT’s were great.
I like that model.

How does this effect TV overall if Sumter County took over? In that I mean, there's two other counties in TV. Would there be three fire departments in time? Don't fix what's not broken.

I have been in The Villages for 16 years. I think the Villages Fire Department does an excellent job all around. I have been watching the updates on this “ambulance issue” and don't know all the financial facts or facts in general , but I do know having the response time we have for an actual ambulance to show up is alarming. I havent seen an “average” response time per call, does anyone have that information? I would think if we bump that up against what the “normal” response time per call should be, it would be helpful as a decision making factor. We never know when we will need that ambulance and I for one would not want to be on the waiting end. I have had two experiences where I have had to call 911, and fortunately for the situation I was in, the response time was very good but those two times were over a year ago. One was life threatening and the other was not. I would like to know more facts, but just off the cuff, I am leaning toward having the Fire Department oversee the destiny of our ambulance service. I know the one closest to me, which is by the Charter School, is excellent and our firefighters are great.

Thank You for your service!!!!

Can you say what, if anything is wrong with the villages fire department staying under the county? Not bringing ambulances into the equation.