[Goldwingnut]

Originally Posted by Calisport

Got a fee notice today of over $330

Perhaps you should check again, the amount per developed residential property is $323.64, and it is the same for everyone in the county.

[margaretmattson]

Originally Posted by Goldwingnut

I tried, but my hands were very tied because I would be voting on these issues in upcoming meetings so I was very limited on what could be said. I tried to get an official response to counter some of the misinformation that was being put out, but there appeared to be other agendas at play that didn't align with my thinking, and I was overruled. There was enough information available that an educated and approximate amounts could have been put forth by both parties if they had cooperated to provide a clear picture.

The ugly truth of the issue that went undiscussed was that had the IFD passed, all FD and transport costs would have had to be removed from the county budget (across the board property tax rate decrease) to prevent double taxation for the same services. A new tax structure would have had to be established for both FDs to cover their costs. This would have resulted in two similar sized budgets for the two FDs with 80% of the tax base paying for one and 20% paying for the other. The county residents would have seen a huge increase to cover both fire and transport service costs while Villages residents would have seen a per house decrease in fire protection cost plus a smaller increase in transport service costs. Again, it's just math, and math has no opinions, biases, or agendas, only facts.

The County residents would have been the most negatively impacted and had absolutely no say in making the decision.

no law states that you can't post about voting in opinion form on this forum. Just saying....

[Goldwingnut]

Originally Posted by margaretmattson

no law states that you can't post about voting in opinion form on this forum. Just saying....

The Florida Open Meeting laws (a.k.a. Sunshine Laws) apply to social media as well as other forms of communications. My comments could have been interpreted as back-channel communication with other commissioners. I cared not to go down the same avenue as my predecessor, just saying...

[mtdjed]

Originally Posted by Calisport

Got a fee notice today of over $330

Let's all understand that what we got was not a bill or even technically a fee notice. We got a "Notice to Property Owners" supposedly required by Florida Statutes. It basically states that the county plan is to charge the Fire Protection Services equally to all county residences. What is wrong with that? They are even having a public hearing on August 22 for public comment. Note there is a Paragraph that states that exceeding this Notice cost "maximum " will require a notice

Costs are costs. The actual budget will be based upon costs of facilities, personnel, and services paid. If they took money from General fund before, and have now proposed separate fund, then we should expect a decrease in general fund.

Should be based upon total assets and services currently approved. If anything new is included, that should be identified.

[margaretmattson]

Originally Posted by Goldwingnut

The Florida Open Meeting laws (a.k.a. Sunshine Laws) apply to social media as well as other forms of communications. My comments could have been interpreted as back-channel communication with other commissioners. I cared not to go down the same avenue as my predecessor, just saying...

Not even in opinion form? Oh wow! Strict rules. Thanks for your honest answer.

[Goldwingnut]

Originally Posted by mtdjed

Let's all understand that what we got was not a bill or even technically a fee notice. We got a "Notice to Property Owners" supposedly required by Florida Statutes. It basically states that the county plan is to charge the Fire Protection Services equally to all county residences. What is wrong with that? They are even having a public hearing on August 22 for public comment. Note there is a Paragraph that states that exceeding this Notice cost "maximum " will require a notice

Costs are costs. The actual budget will be based upon costs of facilities, personnel, and services paid. If they took money from General fund before, and have now proposed separate fund, then we should expect a decrease in general fund.

Should be based upon total assets and services currently approved. If anything new is included, that should be identified.

Please read post #41, there are new services being provided that must be paid for - ambulance transport services. All of this has been fully explained in public records and meeting records for the budget. This we addressed in great detail at a County Commission workshop meeting that was open to the public (recording is also available on county website). Multiple meetings/workshops have been held since the first of the year as we have worked through the budgeting process, these meetings have all been open to the public and open to public comment and input, sadly the most public attendance was 5 people with the normal being only 2 people from the general public at these meetings. Quite honestly, after 7 months of work on the county budget and priorities, the time for public outrage over what has been proposed is now long since passed.

If someone is upset over the proposed increase my questions to them are:
Which fire station shall we close to save money? The one near your house or the one near someone else's house?
What other services shall we cut?
and
Why didn't you attend the budget workshops and express your concerns then?

I'm not trying to be a jerk, but the County has to live in the real world with deadlines, real costs, and priorities for the entire county, the highest of which is public safety. In this case, the public has spoken and demanded a higher level of service, and these are the costs that must be paid. If the cost is too high, then something must be cut.

[Goldwingnut]

Originally Posted by margaretmattson

Not even in opinion form? Oh wow! Strict rules. Thanks for your honest answer.

Yep, even now as I comment on the issues here, I must pick and choose my words very carefully so as to not violate the Sunshine laws.

[Kenswing]

Is there any chance that we’ll get the opportunity to vote for a IFD again, or was that one and done?

[Goldwingnut]

Originally Posted by Kenswing

Is there any chance that we’ll get the opportunity to vote for a IFD again, or was that one and done?

Yes, it can be voted on again, talk to your district supervisors and the district staff and let them know your desires.

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by Jmiller176

I concur. Got my official letter today. That is a steep increase.
Is there a definitive reason why?

Look at the Sumter Fire Assessment Report on the July 11 Workshop Agenda

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by mtdjed

Let's all understand that what we got was not a bill or even technically a fee notice. We got a "Notice to Property Owners" supposedly required by Florida Statutes. It basically states that the county plan is to charge the Fire Protection Services equally to all county residences. What is wrong with that? They are even having a public hearing on August 22 for public comment. Note there is a Paragraph that states that exceeding this Notice cost "maximum " will require a notice

Costs are costs. The actual budget will be based upon costs of facilities, personnel, and services paid. If they took money from General fund before, and have now proposed separate fund, then we should expect a decrease in general fund.

Should be based upon total assets and services currently approved. If anything new is included, that should be identified.

They took money before and they are taking money now. This increase in the fee better represents the true cost of providing fire protection service but also makes it possible for the property tax rate to remain at the rollback rate (legally defined as no increase or decrease).

EDIT: I used 2023 numbers (current year) rather then 2024 numbers (upcoming year) which made the calculations very wrong. Below is a more accurate statement.

Had the fee not been increased then the $124 fee would still be far less than the true cost of service and the property tax rate would have increased by something like 20% to 25% (rough calculation based on the proposed budget).

[Maker]

Originally Posted by Goldwingnut

The ugly truth of the issue that went undiscussed was that had the IFD passed, all FD and transport costs would have had to be removed from the county budget (across the board property tax rate decrease) to prevent double taxation for the same services. A new tax structure would have had to be established for both FDs to cover their costs. This would have resulted in two similar sized budgets for the two FDs with 80% of the tax base paying for one and 20% paying for the other. The county residents would have seen a huge increase to cover both fire and transport service costs while Villages residents would have seen a per house decrease in fire protection cost plus a smaller increase in transport service costs. Again, it's just math, and math has no opinions, biases, or agendas, only facts.

Why was this statement NOT MADE in a commissioner meeting? In an open forum with all commissioners present, and in full compliance with communication laws.
Factual information that was never presented.

It describes two fully separate independent kingdoms. No tax money from one gets used for the other. I think that's what everyone wanted.

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by Maker

Why was this statement NOT MADE in a commissioner meeting? In an open forum with all commissioners present, and in full compliance with communication laws.
Factual information that was never presented.

It describes two fully separate independent kingdoms. No tax money from one gets used for the other. I think that's what everyone wanted.

The issue was not a Sumter County issue. The Commissioners withheld comment to allow the Villages residents to come to their own decision.

Two separate departments with separate funding mechanisms is exactly what was presented... many times. Even the Sumter County proposed budget showed the separate funding for the out years.

The only thing that was not presented was how it would affect non-Villagers. However, that was not the concern of the IFD vote. The IFD vote was only to determine if Villagers wanted their own separate district. Facts were provided, statements were made questioning the honesty of those providing the facts, the phrase "pig in a poke" was thrown around, the vote was taken, and here we are.

[kja58us]

I believe this increase was proposed last year, and the research showed that even without this assessment, tax increase the fire department still provided the services

[Bogie Shooter]

[QUOTE=margaretmattson;2241768]no law states that you can't post about voting in opinion form on this forum. Just saying....[/
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