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County will try to balance fire protection tax
By CHASE SQUIRES DADE CITY -- County commissioners on Tuesday began considering a sweeping fire protection overhaul that could set a minimum universal fee for coverage and establish the county as the primary provider, even in volunteer districts. Additionally, owners of lower valued property could see higher tax bills, while owners of expensive homes could see savings, and the new fees could be assessed to traditionally tax-exempt entities such as schools, nonprofit groups and churches. County schools chief financial officer Chuck Rushe said Tuesday he had not heard the proposals but said the school district is at its taxing ceiling and doesn't have money to pay a new tax. Everything presented Tuesday by consultants Virginia Delegal and Camille Tharpe will be fodder for discussion and subject to change in the coming nine months, commissioners said. The goal, according to the county, is to spread the cost of fire protection fairly. The proposal met mixed reactions. "Somebody in a $45,000 home is going to get hit with this," Commissioner Pat Mulieri said. "It just doesn't make sense." "I think people are going to realize the value of fire service," Commissioner Ted Schrader said. Ideas under consideration shift some of the fire protection costs off owners of large tracts of vacant land, and countywide expansion would bring Pasco fire service to areas currently served by volunteers in Land O'Lakes, Lacoochee, Magnolia Valley and Travelers Rest. And with expansion and the construction of two to three new fire stations, the proposals could also spell the end to special tax districts just outside Dade City and Zephyrhills, draining hundreds of thousands of dollars from the city-run fire departments that have contracted with the county to serve those areas through next year. Assistant County Administrator Dan Johnson presented a draft of the plan Tuesday night in a preview to the Saint Leo Town Commission and said towns, such as Saint Leo, could opt in and accept the county's fire protection. Under the existing county fire tax structure, property owners in the unincorporated areas this year paid $1.54 for every $1,000 of assessed, taxable value. Someone with a home valued at $225,000, with a homestead exemption, pays $308, Johnson said. For the resident of a home assessed at $50,000, with a $25,000 exemption, the bill is $38.50. But that could change with a new system. Consultants determined the actual cost for providing service, per home, could be as high as $99 in the first year of the plan -- to pay for at least two new fire stations -- or as low as $78 in a subsequent year. One proposal would form a tax bill by splitting the $78 annual actual cost and the existing $1.54 tax rate and adding them together for a final bill. The owner of that $225,000 house would see the bill drop from $308 to $193, while the $50,000 home would see an increase from $38.50 to $58.25. Delegal said commissioners may bill churches and schools -- even public schools -- or they may choose to exempt them, covering that money with property taxes or other money in the county's general fund. Tharpe said the next step will be for county commissioners to discuss the issue at a January meeting and vote on notifying the county tax collector of their intention to change the tax structure. Then commissioners would have until June to craft an ordinance, followed by debate on a final rate during the summer, if it's to be enacted in time for next year's tax bills. County Commissioner Peter Altman predicted the board would get an earful from anyone facing higher rates, likening the expected reactions to those of someone who dropped a piece of bread buttered on one side. "We're going to hear it from the people whose butter hit the dirt," he said.
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