[Goldwingnut]

Originally Posted by Bilyclub

So the SCFD will be it's own independent fire district and funding will only come from it's district and not the whole county ? If this is true, it would be a game changer.

It will not be an independent district like vpsd, but the funding will be independent of the general property tax collected from everyone in the county. The funding models will be similar and only drawing funds from the residents each serve, no double taxation.

[ton80]

Don
The basic problem is that nothing is clear on funding. The IFD referendum only applies to the The Villages IFD. Nothing has been stated as to how the SCFD will be funded in clear terms. There are inferences made on what the budget discussions might mean. But there is nothing in clear language from the BOCC or any Sumter County office or Manager. If nothing more becomes clear in written language, I for one will vote NO.

Hopefully someone will make it clear and actionable.

Thank you for your attempts to clarify what may happen. The Villages CDD head and the County administrator need to put out a joint statement defining how the funding and taxes will work. I apologize in advance if I do not have their official titles stated correctly.

[Goldwingnut]

Originally Posted by ton80

Don
The basic problem is that nothing is clear on funding. The IFD referendum only applies to the The Villages IFD. Nothing has been stated as to how the SCFD will be funded in clear terms. There are inferences made on what the budget discussions might mean. But there is nothing in clear language from the BOCC or any Sumter County office or Manager. If nothing more becomes clear in written language, I for one will vote NO.

Hopefully someone will make it clear and actionable.

Thank you for your attempts to clarify what may happen. The Villages CDD head and the County administrator need to put out a joint statement defining how the funding and taxes will work. I apologize in advance if I do not have their official titles stated correctly.

This is not a BOCC issue to deal with and nothing will be done beyond the current actions taken by the BOCC until 1) the referendum outcome is known and 2) the audit of the SCFD costs is completed. The BOCC has taken the position of not taking a position on the IFD referendum, it is up to the villages residents to decide and the VPSD/District to sell. Every BOCC member has a portion of the villages in their district and is accountable to the entire county for their actions and/or inactions. Of the 5 BOCC members 4 are Villages residents, I know the other 3 of these commissioners to be fair, level headed, untainted, honest, intelligent, and reasonable individuals that will make the right decisions that are in the best interests of all of Sumter County. Have some faith in the leaders you have elected, if they fail you, the ballot box is stronger than a hatchet on the next election day.

[Daddymac]

really love the comments about out of control raising of taxes. Well that may be the way things are done in the democratic union controlled state of New York, but here in the Free State of Florida, we have laws that limit our tax rate changes, we have laws that require a balanced budget every year, we have our Florida Sunshine law that stops officials at the local and county level from having a "good ol' boys club" that stops the pet projects like in days of old and in other states, and most importantly we have free and honest elections where we hold our elected officials accountable.

WELL HOW DID THAT 25% TAX HIKE MAKE IT THROUGH. HMMMM, THE GOOD OL BOYS CLUB..
If this passes you can’t not go back to the old System!!! WE WILL BE TAXED TO DEATH ☠️!!

[Daddymac]

And the “ BUILDER ” Will NEVER get and increase in the Fire Districts Taxes.
READ what is happening. The Good Ol Boys Are Trying To Get In Your House. Don’t let any one BS you..
.
>>From the daily Sun <<<

What can you tell us about costs to the residents to support this; can you please discuss how we would pay for fire and EMS service under an independent special fire district?

Each parcel will be charged $124. The additional needed funding will be generated with $0.75 cents per $1,000 dollars of relative improvement value (market or ‘just’ value minus land value) in a second tier.

In addition to the ‘Simplified Funding’, The Villages Independent Fire Control and Rescue District will have the legal ability to generate funding via an ad-valorem assessment, or property tax, based on the taxable value of your home.

This is capped at a maximum of $1 dollar for every $1,000 dollars of the assessable value of residential and commercial properties.

Under the purview of The Villages Independent Fire Control and Rescue District, these revenue methods will provide enhanced transparency in identifying exactly how much you are paying to fund the services received.

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by Daddymac

And the “ BUILDER ” Will NEVER get and increase in the Fire Districts Taxes.
READ what is happening. The Good Ol Boys Are Trying To Get In Your House. Don’t let any one BS you..
.
>>From the daily Sun <<<

What can you tell us about costs to the residents to support this; can you please discuss how we would pay for fire and EMS service under an independent special fire district?

Each parcel will be charged $124. The additional needed funding will be generated with $0.75 cents per $1,000 dollars of relative improvement value (market or ‘just’ value minus land value) in a second tier.

In addition to the ‘Simplified Funding’, The Villages Independent Fire Control and Rescue District will have the legal ability to generate funding via an ad-valorem assessment, or property tax, based on the taxable value of your home.

This is capped at a maximum of $1 dollar for every $1,000 dollars of the assessable value of residential and commercial properties.

Under the purview of The Villages Independent Fire Control and Rescue District, these revenue methods will provide enhanced transparency in identifying exactly how much you are paying to fund the services received.

Yes, and...?

This is not new at all. This has been published multiple places, written about in these posts, and built into the tax estimator.

[Daddymac]

The fire department staffers calculated the new fire assessment fee. Based on the results of this analysis, she determined that Instead of paying $124.00, they will be paying $516.00. Your fee will be different from others because all properties ARE NOT being assessed the same fee. The fee will be based on the MARKET VALUE of your house. A home in your neighborhood may be paying more than you or less than you, even though you will be receiving the SAME SERVICES. If your house burns, or another house burns, both will still get the same number of responders and fire trucks no matter how much of a fee has been paid.

There is no cap on the residential fees that will be charged, and they can increase yearly. There is a cap on commercial properties … Guess who that benefits?
There ARE NO NEW SERVICES if the referendum passes!

[Kenswing]

Originally Posted by Daddymac

And the “ BUILDER ” Will NEVER get and increase in the Fire Districts Taxes.
READ what is happening. The Good Ol Boys Are Trying To Get In Your House. Don’t let any one BS you..
.
>>From the daily Sun <<<

What can you tell us about costs to the residents to support this; can you please discuss how we would pay for fire and EMS service under an independent special fire district?

Each parcel will be charged $124. The additional needed funding will be generated with $0.75 cents per $1,000 dollars of relative improvement value (market or ‘just’ value minus land value) in a second tier.

In addition to the ‘Simplified Funding’, The Villages Independent Fire Control and Rescue District will have the legal ability to generate funding via an ad-valorem assessment, or property tax, based on the taxable value of your home.

This is capped at a maximum of $1 dollar for every $1,000 dollars of the assessable value of residential and commercial properties.

Under the purview of The Villages Independent Fire Control and Rescue District, these revenue methods will provide enhanced transparency in identifying exactly how much you are paying to fund the services received.

Could you tell us who you are? We know who Don is. Do you hold any public office? Are you an officer with any of the homeowners associations? Simply a concerned citizen? Just trying to determine where you're coming from and how much credibility I should lend to your position.

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by Daddymac

The fire department staffers calculated the new fire assessment fee. ...

You tried that back in post #1. Please see post #3 for a response.

[Goldwingnut]

Originally Posted by Daddymac

There is no cap on the residential fees that will be charged, and they can increase yearly. There is a cap on commercial properties … Guess who that benefits?

The cap is on all properties and doesn't distinguish between residential and commercial properties, if a property is worth more than $10M, it is capped. There's no use discussing residential properties being capped because there aren't any anywhere near the value and only a hand full of commercial properties that meet the bar for a cap, and all of these have monitored fire alarms system and are sprinklered which reduce their risk. NFPA 72 mandates many measures in addition to these that help to mitigate fire risks in buildings. Once again, this is a common and normal practice for large commercial buildings to limit fire assessments. The total impact of the cap is a tiny portion of the almost $27M total VPSD budget.

[VIN574]

Thank you, Don. Your detailed explanation (as always) of IFDs and their revenues helped us make our decision.

Best

[oldtimes]

///

[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by Goldwingnut

The cap is on all properties and doesn't distinguish between residential and commercial properties, if a property is worth more than $10M, it is capped. There's no use discussing residential properties being capped because there aren't any anywhere near the value and only a hand full of commercial properties that meet the bar for a cap, and all of these have monitored fire alarms system and are sprinklered which reduce their risk. NFPA 72 mandates many measures in addition to these that help to mitigate fire risks in buildings. Once again, this is a common and normal practice for large commercial buildings to limit fire assessments. The total impact of the cap is a tiny portion of the almost $27M total VPSD budget.

Now this is getting more confusing. What are the pros and cons of this "new" fire district?

Will TV be getting additional services?
Will the existing services be improved?
Will response time be improved?
Will administrative costs skyrocket?

Then there are 2 financial questions

If I read this correctly, residents will have a $124 flat non-ad valorem tax PLUS additional tax if needed based on assessments and only capped once property is worth over 10 million. This would mean that 2 homes next to each other might pay vastly different amounts for fire protection even though they are receiving the same service. And that sounds awfully like another progressive Robin Hood type tax, which I cannot support.

Secondly, also if I read correctly, the numbers are not yet finalized, so we have no idea what general property tax might be needed to fund the remainder of Sumter County's fire services once TV is split off, which kind of sounds like a pig in a poke.

Don, please correct me if that assessment is in error.

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

Now this is getting more confusing. What are the pros and cons of this "new" fire district?

Will TV be getting additional services?
Will the existing services be improved?
Will response time be improved?
Will administrative costs skyrocket?

Then there are 2 financial questions

If I read this correctly, residents will have a $124 flat non-ad valorem tax PLUS additional tax if needed based on assessments and only capped once property is worth over 10 million. This would mean that 2 homes next to each other might pay vastly different amounts for fire protection even though they are receiving the same service. And that sounds awfully like another progressive Robin Hood type tax, which I cannot support.

Secondly, also if I read correctly, the numbers are not yet finalized, so we have no idea what general property tax might be needed to fund the remainder of Sumter County's fire services once TV is split off, which kind of sounds like a pig in a poke.

Don, please correct me if that assessment is in error.

Your taxing information is incorrect.

[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by Bill14564

Your taxing information is incorrect.

In what way?