Did I see Sumter Counter property tax fees will be the lowest in history for 2024 mostly thanks to new development?

Yes, the proposed millage rate is the lowest in the county’s history. It is due in part to the development, but also to the continued expansion of the business and industrial sectors. Of course some is also due to effective budgeting practices. Had we not restructured the fire assessment and shifted a significant additional burden to the business sector and kept the old $124 assessment (which only covered about 20% of fire services costs) then the added burden of the overhead from the ambulance services costs would have resulted in about an 18% increase in the property tax bill instead of a decrease to less than the rollback rate.

Nonsense. Money is fungible. Fire-protection expenses not covered by an impact fee on new development are covered by other taxes. The Developer is by far the biggest builder in Sumter County, and Sumter County has no fire impact fee on new building because of the Developer's control over the County Commission and the almost million dollars he paid to disgraced former State Representative Brett Hage.

Rather than rolling out accusations, how about some real data? There was a new fire station built in the Villages not too long ago, where did the funding for that come from? The Sumter County budget is public and online. The VPSD budget is public and online. Follow the money. Show where the funds for that new station came from the Sumter budget and my property tax dollars.

I wish I would've had some of this information before the IFD vote.
Nobody explained how elected officials would have oversight over the IFD.
Is it possible to bring the IFD vote back in the near future?

Please read Don’s posts and educate yourself

I voted against the levy because every where I have live the fire levy ended up cost me way more than $324. Most were $200 to $240 per $100,000 of assessed value. My last home had an assesses value of $360,000 and the fire levy was over $800 annually. I am not complaining about $325.

good money to sleep and go pick up meals

Don't be misled by small numbers
 

TL;DR: A lower millage rate doesn't mean you will pay less; a $200 fee increase looks better than a 25% property tax increase; the IFD would have saved between $100 and $400 on a $400K home, and; even with the increases our VPSD is a good deal.

We have read in here and other places about the smallest millage rate in history, a 7.8% decrease over last year, a rate below the rollback rate, and a fire increase of only 55 cents per day. Definitely sounds good when you put it that way. But is that the whole story or is that just the glass-half-full version?

5.19 mills is the lowest rate in history
Probably true, it's the lowest I have seen.

So I'll be paying 8% less in property tax this year?
Whoa, not so fast. The rollback rate, 5.1974, is the rate at which the county collects the same amount in property tax not counting new construction. How can that work? That works because property values increased. If the county increases my appraised value by 8% and then lowers the tax rate by 8% I pay the same amount and the county collects the same amount.

But did my property increase by 8% over last year?
We won't know until the TRIM notices come out around the end of the month. Last year my appraised value increased 30%. It may not be that high this year but I have to believe 8% would be a minimum.

So I'll be paying the same in property tax this year?
Maybe, maybe not. Those of us with the Homestead Exemption also get the Save Our Homes assessment limitation. For us, our assessments cannot increase more than 3%. I will be paying about 4.8% less in property taxes this year (about $15 for a $300K assessment). But since some of us will be paying less, others will be paying more to make up the difference.

But the millage will be lower than the rollback rate
Looking at past years, it is likely that 5.1974 will be clipped and set at 5.19. This is 0.0074 less than the rollback rate, a little over 0.1% less, about $2 on a $300K assessment.

Then the county is controlling their spending in order to work with the same amount of revenue
No, it isn't that simple. The rollback rate collects the same excluding new construction. There was new construction. The anticipated property tax revenue increased from $95M last year to $101M this year, a 6% increase.

So I'm paying about the same and the county is making due with just a 6% increase in revenue
No, the county collects more than that. This thread started because of an increase in the fire protection fee. That money goes into the general fund too. That revenue increased from $9M last year to $35M this year, a 290% increase. Between the fire protection fee and property taxes, the county collected $104M from the annual tax bill last year. This year they anticipate collecting $136M, a 31% increase. Bottom line, revenue for the general fund is expected to increase from $187M to $214M or a 14% increase.

But the additional $200 was necessary to pay for the new EMS service.
Not according to the study that was used to determine the $323.64 number. The Benesch study went to the trouble of calculating the amount of resources spent on fire protection and the amount of resources spent on EMS. They then used only the fire protection numbers to calculate the $323.64. That isn't to say that some EMS overhead didn't make its way into that number but the majority of the EMS costs are excluded.

Then the additional $200 was necessary because the cost of fire protection increased
Fire protection costs probably did increase over last year but not by 161%! The portion of the fire protection costs that were not covered by the $124 fee came out of the general fund (our property taxes) last year. This year that additional amount has been moved to the non-Ad-Valorem fee.

Then what was the reason for the $200 increase?
In my mind there are two. One, to better represent the true cost of fire protection. The $124 number had not been adjusted in quite some time so a recalculation was needed. $323.64 appears to be closer to the true cost of fire protection. Two, and in my mind this is the more significant, to avoid a 20% to 25% increase in the property tax millage rate. Fire and EMS were going to cost the same next year whether the $124 was increased or not. If it was not increased then the money would have had to come from property taxes. Collecting this from property taxes would have required about a 25% increase in the millage rate. In the past a 25% increase has been detrimental to the careers of the Commissioners who voted for it. A $200 increase, only 55 cents per day, was justifiable and much safer.

But at least we're paying less than we would have with the IFD
Absolutely not! Next year we will be paying $324 plus 1.3 mills for fire protection. For a home with a $400K assessment this comes to $844. Under the IFD the same home would have paid between $430 and $720 (maximum allowed by the IFD law). The IFD would have saved this home at least $100 and might have saved up to $400.

The amount I pay in property tax is fine with me. I believe it might have now increased to the same amount I was paying before I moved but the fire protection is better and I no longer pay state income tax. At $324 the fire protection cost seems reasonable and while I've not had to make use of it, everything I hear says the service is top notch. The glass is definitely at least half full.

Don't try to mislead me by pointing to the small numbers and implying it is a decrease when it is actually an increase. The county is controlling its spending to just a 14% increase over last year. That might be good by some standards but I didn't see a 14% increase in my income over last year. It looks like my payment to the county will increase about 7% which isn't too bad. I still like what I'm getting but don't talk as though I'm paying less when I can see that I'm paying more.
EDIT(1): It was pointed out that the county has grown somewhat in the last year. Part of the 14% is for the additional resources to support the additional roads, homes, and people.


Please, if any of this is incorrect, let me know so I can fix it.

Thanks for Posting
 

Bill14564 and Goldwingnut must belong to the Large Cranium Society. My Micro-brain bows before Thee. Thanks for laying these issues out in concise language.

After further review.... I'll pay the 300+ clams to not wade in this pool again.

Carl

fire protection assessment fee
 

Wow, my bill will be $323 per year. Nobody talked money when this was going on. Everything was hush hush. All that for fast ambulance service for $323 a year. I'll take a taxi to the hospital, probably be a lot cheaper....and faster.

This whole thing has me scratching my head? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not at all against increasing my taxes to improve first response time under the right circumstances, but not the way this was done. First off, it’s not fair to ask taxpayers to vote for anything so ambiguous, basically asking them to approve writing a blank check at their expense. People rightfully expect transparency when being asked to vote for something that effects their finances. If the powers that be could not adequately communicate to voters what they were voting on, then something is either broken or being rushed through way to fast. The vote should have been delayed until they got their act together and could ask the voters to approve something that could be explained with full transparency. Secondly, what’s the point of improving first response time when the patient is just going to get dumped at a one star rated hospital that provides woefully inadequate healthcare? Let’s get there quicker, so we can hurry up and wait for nothing! Based on my unfortunate experience at The Village’s Hospital ER, I would rather get dumped in Lake Sumter next to a couple starving 14 foot alligators than the ER in the Villages. At least my pain and suffering would end quickly.

On the other hand, if a plan was put together, with clear and transparent details, that outlined a way to get Villagers in need quickly to a good hospital, such as the institutions in Gainesville, I would definitively strongly consider supporting it.

On a final note, I want to give a strong shout out of support and thanks to the many Village’s residents who make the neighborhood defibrillator program work. Now there is something that can save lives.

The wording in the notification received says the $324 is the maximum increase for FY23-24 and is the maximum that can be imposed without further notice in future FYs.

That is customary wording, what it means is that the rate will be set at the maximum approved rate. If it were needed to be raised in the future it will have to be approved at a public hearing as what is happening on the 22nd. If the maximum rate were to be set above the required funding rate (say $400 and similar higher rates for commercial properties) then the following year(s) the rates could be raised if necessary to any level up to the maximum approved rates without additional public hearings being held.

Good point in your 1st line

What happens now?
 

Reports are the BoCC voted 3-2 not to accept the proposal to raise the fire impact fee to 323.64 and change the way it was assessed on commercial properties. This takes about $25M out of the county budget and if not replaced, will mean $12.5M decrease to both VPSD and SCFEMS. So what happens now?

Possibility 1: Increase property taxes 25% to make up the $25M. To anyone with a taxable value over $150,000 this would result in you paying more than if the $323.64 passed. NOTE: This option may not be available to the BoCC. Since this would be a tax increase it may trigger a requirement for public notice and a public hearing. There might not be enough time left to have the hearing and have the budget in place by October.

Possibility 2: Underfund the departments by $12.5M each. This is over 25% of the VPSD budget and nearly 50% of the SCFEMS budget. What could possibly go wrong?

Possibility 3 (Unlikely): With something like 75% of the homes in the county within the boundaries of the Villages, they *could* split the $10M remaining after the cuts 75/25 and cut the VPSD by only $10M rather than $12.5M. This seems unlikely since it means a new way of allocating the fees and would cut SCFEMS even more.

Possibility 4: Lessen the impact to the departments by reducing other items in the budget. $25M comes out of the entire budget but not all out of the VPSD and SCFEMS lines.

My guess: Share the pain. Increase taxes but not by 25% - an historically dangerous number with an election coming up. Reduce VPSD and SCFEMS funding but not by the entire $25M - after all, do we really need the best service with the best ratings? And, reduce other items in the county budget - there a lot of lines to look at.

In my mind we are now zero for two on the fire department issue. We should have voted for the IFD rather than following those that admitted they were arguing against it only because they didn't understand it. We should have encouraged the BoCC to vote for this $200 increase so the departments could be fully funded without raising our taxes. Neither happened. Now we *need* to be concerned with the future of the VPSD.

There is a lot of expense in paying for the management of two services; millions of dollars could be saved if VPSD and SCFEMS were combined under one chain. There is a lot of expense in outfitting two separate services. There are eight stations in our small corner of the county and only eight (?) more covering the rest of county; some amount could be saved by combining the two and sharing the equipment. There is a lot of "us vs. them" sentiment in the county, particularly over roads and fire protection. Combining the two services would go a long way towards soothing that sentiment. There would be considerable savings and improved goodwill if the two services were combined. We *need* to be concerned with the future of the VPSD.

I want to keep the VPSD while also keeping my taxes low. I am concerned that is not the direction we are heading.

The business owners such as medium-sized business owners T&D Concrete opposed this. They would have paid their fair share. My understanding is that under the present system, business owners pay the same amount as a homeowners do. I think this is unfair and should be changed. Basing it on the square footage of the business seems to be right. T&D was mad, because he has over 10,000 feet of square footage.

Sun keeps talking about percentage increase for business never giving the dollar amount.

One person quoted will have to give up their home as they cannot afford a $ 200 increase.

Guess their editor has no clue that opinions belong in the editorial page.

As I understand it, you are correct. It is possible that the Lofts at Brownwood, in their entirety, pay $124 for fire protection because they represent one property. The same for the Grand Traverse shopping center - one property, one $124 fee. I don't know that $0.53 per sqft was fair (I pay much less than that) but it was a start.

In the end, that ship has sailed. No IFD, no new fee structure, just a $25M hole to fill.

That is outrageous and unfair to homeowners.

Why does the Fire Department have a special assessment? Is there a special assessment for police, schools, libraries, roads, recreation, etc.?

I would think that the Fire Department is an essential service and should come out of the general budget and not be based on a special assessment.

The Sumter County Fire Chief said that this will result in a $12 million shortfall in a $24 million budget and the he will have to lay off 30 firefighters and abandon plans to hire 27 more employees. If we just had the revenue from last year ($124 per house), it doesn't seem like costs have gone up that much that we have to have such drastic measures.

The schools have taxing authority. There is a separate line on your yearly bill for school tax. The others, I don't know.

Sure, take the money out of the general fund. That's my Possibility 1 above.

We all paid much more than $124 for fire protection last year. $124 was the assessment (and it turns out the assessment was way too low) but the amount transferred from the general fund to VPSD and the amount spent by SCFEMS was much greater than what the $124 brought in.

Costs have gone up. As more stations are added in the VPSD, more employees need to be hired. Wages have increased. Inflation has increased costs across the board. The VPSD pays management fees to the District and those have gone up. It looks like the VPSD budget increased by about 30% and the SCFEMS budget increased by about 50% over last year.

The VPSD budget is part of the VCCDD budget and can be found on the districtgov.org page. The SCFEMS budget is part of the Sumter County budget and can be found on the county webpage.

Yes, fire dept costs have gone up a lot:
1. MANY more houses in the south end of The Villages.
2. New fire stations built in the south of TV to serve those houses
3. New this year and affecting both departments, fire department is now responsible for ambulance services.

The businesses paying $124 for their large properties was a sweetheart deal that they have enjoyed for too long. I regret that the BOCC was not able to stand up for the homeowners who elected them.

Does anyone know the names of the Commissioners who voted against this? I would like to remember them at the next election.

Commissioner Don Wiley, Commissioner Roberta Ulrich, and Commissioner Andrew Bilardello opposed it.



County Chairman Craig Estep and Commissioner Jeffrey Bogue voted for the increase.

According to my 2023 trim notice that I received from Sumter county, my taxes would be $100 less than 2022 if no budget change is made or $100 more than my 2022 taxes if proposed budget change is made. This change either way is still much less that the increases in water rates that are/will take place in the NSCUDD's CSU operations area.

Current system of $124 is not fair to homeowners. Would be nice to hear T&D say they have a better idea to not cost firefighters/emt's their jobs would will not be good for the county.

Poorly Written and Unfair
 

I’m glad this thing died. A campground owner would have had a tax bill for this “great” idea for almost a half million dollars.

We know The Villages would have had a taxable amount untold of in most circles, but tens of millions just for the square footage were available.

I'd like to know more about that campground. Looking at one of the RV parks near here, they were assessed on about 20% of their area. Don't know if that was some equation for RV parks or if they have only developed 20% of their land for use in the business.

In any case, to get an assessment of $490,000 (I saw that number somewhere) at $0.53/sq ft that works out to be 925,000sq ft. If that was an RV park and assessed on only 20% of the land then that would be a 100acre RV park. $490,000 is a lot of money but a 100acre (4.3M sq ft) business is a fairly large business.

It bothers me that (IF I AM CORRECT) Grand Traverse plaza pays exactly the same $124 that I do. This 100acre RV park would also pay $124 (or possibly $248 if it is actually two parks). The residential properties appear to be subsidizing the commercial properties.

But, I also recognize that $0.539/sq ft is a very large number. At $323.64 a 2,000sq ft home would pay about $0.16/sq ft. Perhaps the proposal shifted the pendulum too far to the other side.

There was no confirmation of this other than what the campground owner claimed. Also using the excuse that she is busy only during snowbird season has nothing to do with this.

Agree
 

I still wonder what The Villages would have paid. Their sales, design and retail sections alone equated to more than anyone else.

Remember who approved this and boot them. Cut the landscaping, it’s out of control.

Managers look for cost savings everyday. ABC, always be cutting

I find the campground owner's statement confusing. I was under the impression that businesses would be charged 53 cents/sq foot for their buildings. This person seems to be calculating 53 cents/sq foot on their land???

Doesn't matter now, but which was it?

Looking at the TRIM notice for the Lofts at Brownwood, their fire assessment would go from $124 to $84,146.

I find it amazing that no one can explain this. Everyone is confused!

What is it that no one can explain?

I’m sure you’ll see the firehouses doing informational picketing to tell everyone how bad it will become SOON.

I think this landowner was confused and just stirring up problems at the meeting. It should be based on building square footage.

that seems reasonable to me. Should be at least $324 times the number of rental units or more.

:icon_wink:In trying to look up the Lofts at Brownwood on the Sumter County Tax Collector site, I found this record.

TaxSys - Sumter County Tax Collector

Is this the total bill for the complete complex including all of the units?

Maybe not as there seems to be many records to search through such as the following ->

Just a moment...

Account Summary — - TaxSys - Sumter County Tax Collector

And, I don't believe I will pay for confidential records at this point in time.:icon_wink:

The fire department issue.

I think it started with the vote last November. I have read many comments on the board and I have spoken to many of my neighbors. No one seems to understand the impact of passing the referendum last year or the impact of not passing it.

I don't believe anyone has explained why the fire fighting costs are going up so dramatically. The Sumter County Fire Chief claims that failure to pass the $200 increase will cause a $12 million shortfall in his $24 million budget and that he will have to lay off 30 fireman. Was there no shortfall last year? What was the budget last year? The Villages Public Safety Department will lose 57 new positions and will have to disband the hazardous materials team and his budget will be cut from $34.5 million to $20 million.

If the referendum had passed last November, would the budgets have then been balanced without the $200 increase? If so, where would the money have come from?

The latest census figures for Sumter County show a population of about 135,000.

Did anyone on the board work as a fireman or on their city's budget committee? What is the average cost of a fire department in a town of 135,000?