[Johnsocat]

Originally Posted by Normal

I did attend the meeting at the rec center and have a copy of the slide presentation, thanks anyway for your uninformed input.

No need to be nasty or rude to responders. It appears YOU were mistaken based on all the responses.

[d1nod1no]

I live next to, not in, the Villages and got a letter. ? ? ?

Originally Posted by Normal

Thanks to some genius politicians, we received our new Fire assessment fee statement for 2024-25.

320.71

Heads need to roll!

Almost doubling the Fire assessment fee is their answer while we get statements from them like, “We are flush with cash.”

Um yah, no wonder!

[Sandy and Ed]

Originally Posted by Kenswing

Hmmmm. Less than a dollar a day for fire and ambulance service. I never in my wildest dreams would have thought that was unreasonable.

Amen. And thank you for pointing this out.

[tophcfa]

Originally Posted by crash

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.

Well worth it IF they bring you to a REAL HOSPITAL in Gainesville.

[bsloan1960]

Originally Posted by Gpsma

Oh you poor villager…expecting nothing to increase..saying you live on a fixed income…all the while collecting social security and maybe a pension while living in a half a million housr

Cry me a river

I'm amused at people's misdirected irritation with SS and pensions. If you work for a living you pay a TAX on every paycheck- that TAX is called Social Security. Over your working life you pay in Much More than you collect in retirement. Now, as for pensions. Pensions are offered by employers to make their jobs more attractive to workers and as an incentive to stay at that job long term. Most pensions are self-funded (from My Pay Check), as well as an employers contributions over time.

In my particular case, my Social Security and Pension combined provide me with less than Half of what I was paid while working. I just realized I'm wasting my time explaining what should be common sense to someone addicted to criticizing people, and in this case criticizing people living on money that They Earned- who, like everyone else, including the criticizer, want the most value for their money.

[jjombrello]

Originally Posted by Bill14564

If only you had attended one of the presentations or paid attention to the explanation in earlier threads. Then you might understand where that number came from and why it likely represents a decrease in your fire protection payment.

I expected mine to be closer to $350 so I’ll be happy if I see $320. By way of comparison, I paid about $520 for fire protection on my last tax bill.

I agree with Victor on this one. It was simply and adequately explained in the Daily Sun as to how the new cost compares to what was paid in the past. I see a decrease in my annual fire protection payment.

[Papa_lecki]

Originally Posted by crash

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.

Oh, I thought the whole purpose of changing the fire set up was related to Ambulance response time (I didn’t think the ambulance fee was included).
When ambulance was outsourced to AMR, response time could be 30 minutes, now that response is from the fire department, response time has improved drastically, which means you get to a doctor faster.

[dougjb]

the members of that committee just vote the way the developer wants them too. Thus, a huge increase in fire assessments with no decrease in the taxes. Works out well for the developer...not so good for us. The members of that committee are elected. They can be turned out.

[Papa_lecki]

Originally Posted by tophcfa

Well worth it IF they bring you to a REAL HOSPITAL in Gainesville.

Say you’re have a cardiac incident, you would rather drive for 60 minutes to Gainesville than get to a doctor as quickly as possible?

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by d1nod1no

I live next to, not in, the Villages and got a letter. ? ? ?

1. Did your letter come from the SCFEMS? They are also working on a new fee structure and may have sent out letters.

2. Do you live close enough to be one of the few non-Village properties covered by the VPSDDD? Here is a map showing the coverage area.

If neither of those is the case, contact whoever sent the letter (VPSDDD or the Sumter County Tax Collector) and ask them to explain it.

[Bogie Shooter]

Originally Posted by dougjb

the members of that committee just vote the way the developer wants them too. Thus, a huge increase in fire assessments with no decrease in the taxes. Works out well for the developer...not so good for us. The members of that committee are elected. They can be turned out.

What post are you responding to?

[Kallbox]

You play for what you get. The Villages Public Safety now has Fire Rescue which will save lives unlike AMR ambulance service. I will gladly pay for our first responders!

[tophcfa]

Originally Posted by Papa_lecki

Say you’re have a cardiac incident, you would rather drive for 60 minutes to Gainesville than get to a doctor as quickly as possible?

Yes, I’d rather die than go back to the ER at the Villages hospital. I would trust the trained paramedics to care for me during the ambulance ride way more than the Villages Hospital.

[allsport]

Originally Posted by Bill14564

If only you had attended one of the presentations or paid attention to the explanation in earlier threads. Then you might understand where that number came from and why it likely represents a decrease in your fire protection payment.

I expected mine to be closer to $350 so I’ll be happy if I see $320. By way of comparison, I paid about $520 for fire protection on my last tax bill.

You will be taxed for both, they will never give that 500 back to you, that is the county money and the other is the villages. Neither are related.

[Papa_lecki]

Originally Posted by dougjb

the members of that committee just vote the way the developer wants them too. Thus, a huge increase in fire assessments with no decrease in the taxes. Works out well for the developer...not so good for us. The members of that committee are elected. They can be turned out.

I don’t think The Developer has a thing to do with fire/rescue.
It’s in the county’s purview. The Developer builds the firehouses, but I bet they get reimbursed for it.