You’re right. Seems the OP is the uninformed or confused one

there is a meeting about this on June 12 at 1:00 PM at the Savannah Center. BE THERE!!!!

We voted for the county to take over ambulance service they have 12 ambulances under AMR we had three. We voted no for the independent district because it would raise our fee and then let them put in the dependent district which is the same thing after we screamed that they cut service because the county cut funding. So what did you expect the budget is 23 million and it is not going to come from your property taxes. We want the service but we don’t want to pay for it. Sorry it doesn’t work that way. $300 a year for fire service isn’t bad and won’t kill you but no service just might.

Part of what you paid before was in your property taxes which is no longer funding the Fire Dept. but will probably go to pay for the roads. I am sure the commissioners will say they have cut your property taxes and not include the new fee in that because it is not a tax but a fee. Kind of like a magician don’t look what my left hand is doing only look at the right.

Ambulance service is not part of that fee that is still funded by the county and the $550 fee for a trip to the hospital. This fee just covers fire protection.

To your point....when will people realize ‘tax’ or ‘fees’ is semantics. It makes people feel good that are from ‘tax free’ states to hear fee vs taxes. In my wallet, it’s all the same thing.

It will be important to see that the Sumter County Commissioners reduce the millage rate by the 1.3mills that covered fire protection this year. If the cost of fire protection is removed from the budget then property taxes can be lowered by that amount. If that happens, if the 1.3mills are removed, then my overall taxes will be reduced by almost $200.

My expectation is that the property tax rate will be reduced but not by the full 1.3mills. I will still be saving money on fire protection but I will be paying more for some additional service in the county. Then again, this is an election year.

The 3% limit ONLY applies to the "ASSESED VALUE" of your homestead property in the Ad Valorem portion of your tax bill. It does not apply to the "MILLAGE RATE" or any of the "NON-AD VALOREM ASSESSMENTS". In 2019, the Sumter County millage rate was legally increased by 25%.

The very definition of a shell game. At least you acknowledge such

Ambulance Transport is not part of the fee. If you call 911 and an ambulance comes to your home and Transport is not needed, then there is no charge; most of the Villages fire department's responses don't require transport.

Inappropriate post by an unhappy person.

I tried but I cannot find that definition when I search on "shell game." I certainly do not acknowledge that there is any "shell game" going on.

If the implication is that funding sources are being manipulated to disguise or hide anything then this seems to achieve exactly the opposite. Rather than having the fire protection costs buried in the overall budget they are being separated and made more clear. Reducing the number of items in the budget will make the budge even easier to understand. If additional expenses are added to the budget they will have a larger impact now that the fire protection costs have been removed and will be easier to identify. Listing the fire protection costs in a separate line item does not hide them, it makes them easier to see and understand.

Not everything in life is determined by a Google search...

“I will still be saving money on fire protection but I will be paying more for some additional service in the county. Then again, this is an election year.”

That’s what I based my ‘shell game’ response on.

Wasn't AMR just EMT's and TVFD are paramedics.

If so the service would be an upgrade.

A bit more
 

I don’t think the bill for fire protection is atrocious if a total aggregated bill was itemized and this was a subsection of the bill. You are talking about a different game though if you are drawn in as a Wildwood resident. Wildwood residents already pay a lot for nothing. We aren’t the unincorporated section already freeloading for police off of everybody’s sheriff department.

The one member of the county board who stated we wouldn't also be paying for Sumter County Fire is no longer on the board. We shall see. I wouldn't count on them doing us right.