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New assessment not needed for firefighters

The notion of creating a new assessment for paying firefighters' salaries is dead.

Well, it's sort of dead. It could come back to life next year or later.

For now, Citrus County commissioners, in a 3-2 split on Tuesday, have determined that they can find the money in available funds to pay the salaries of the 27 incoming firefighters for the fiscal year beginning in October.

That is good news for Citrus taxpayers, who will benefit from enhanced fire protection - and possibly see their insurance costs reduced - without paying a new assessment that was estimated to be $50 per year.

Commission chairwoman Vicki Phillips voiced the majority view that the county can find the estimated $2.5-million to $3-million for the firefighters using a combination of new money from higher property values, a possible increase in the existing taxing mechanism for fire services and county reserves.

The decision reflected a divergence of views of the five commissioners on the subject. Phillips and Gary Bartell feel the assessment is not needed now; Jim Fowler and Dennis Damato said moving forward with the process of creating the assessment would just keep options open (they would be in either case) and would not commit the county to actually implementing the fee; and Joyce Valentino feels the commission should reconsider even having paid firefighters.

There are a number of important points to consider on each stance.

Using the available resources would include tapping into the funds raised by the existing Municipal Services Taxing Unit that raises money for fire services. The commissioners could vote to raise this levy to its full 1-mill amount (it is at a half-mill now), which could raise roughly $3.5-million.

The problem with this is that the MSTU is based on property values, meaning that the amount paid by property owners would vary. In some cases, people with low-valued property could pay little or nothing at all for fire services. The alternative, the Municipal Services Benefit Unit that the commissioners killed on Tuesday, would have been a flat fee for all property owners.

Despite the equity issues involved with the MSTU approach, Phillips said Wednesday she would support going that route if needed.

The other money available could come from the increased tax revenue coming in because of the red-hot real estate market. The Property Appraiser's Office is estimating a 10 percent rise in revenue this year, which translates to roughly $8-million. The boom may not last forever, and the county should not expect to see such increases every year. But for now, the money will be available.

Finally, there is money in reserve accounts in the county budget that can be tapped. An audit released this week shows about $1.9-million may be available.

All of which weakens the argument put forth by Fowler and to a lesser extent Damato that the commissioners should proceed on the road leading to an assessment. Sure, there would be at least two opportunities later to kill the proposal. But if it is not needed now, why put forth the additional efforts of developing an MSBU only to kill it?

While Valentino raises valid questions about the allocation of the new firefighters, the time to debate whether they are needed has passed. There is no denying that the county's volunteer firefighters are doing their best to keep up with demand, but the county's growth is outstripping their efforts.

This problem will only get worse as time goes on and the county grows, and the commissioners are correct to address this critical issue now by hiring firefighters in stages.

Part of the concern about creating the assessment is that it would give the county an avenue to circumvent the 10-mill cap on property taxes by removing these costs from the general fund. Those who fear burgeoning local government, and the money needed to fuel that growth, were among those on Tuesday voicing the mantra of living within your means.

That can be a head-in-the-sand approach in instances where people are blind to the increased demands for services. But in this case, it is appropriate to use what appears to be available funding to meet the new needs.

[Last modified February 24, 2005, 00:54:17]