BY CAROL MOSLEY
Special to the Telegraph
Brooker Town Council members have confirmed tentative support for the county’s fire assessment, but final approval will depend on how the county structures the assessment.
At the council’s previous meeting, Brooker declined “consent for inclusion” in the Municipal Service Benefit Unit for the assessment because there is no fire station in the town. Since that time, Brooker has been informed that state funding was received for a new station.
Consent is required for the county to collect the fee from property owners in municipalities. Lawtey and Hampton have already signed on. The city of Starke declined because they have their own fire department.
Bradford County Fire Rescue Chief Ben Carter and County Commissioner Diane Andrews were on hand to answer questions. They said agreeing to the first reading of the ordinance is primarily a means to stay included in the discussion since a second reading will be required for actual enactment.
Brooker’s attorney, John Maines, expressed concerns if the language in the second reading is substantially different than the first reading. He had no problem with Brooker agreeing to participate in what the county enacts as an assessment, but those details are not determined yet. He said major changes between the first and second readings could lead to “potentially treacherous waters ahead.”
Chief Carter went through the details of getting a fire station located in Brooker. Phase 1 will be funded by a $500,000 state allocation and will be restricted to capital expenses to get the station built in Brooker. Mayor Gene Melvin pointed out that the proposed location is secured with recently purchased land.
Phase 2, to be funded next year, will equip the building. The station will always have one firefighting crew and one truck on hand. According to Carter, the cost of operating the Brooker station has been figured into the proposed assessment.
Carter said the county will want some ownership stake such as a long-term lease of 50-100 years. That led to a discussion of the assessment particulars.
Based on the latest numbers, if the county funded 100% of the fire department budget with the assessment, the cost would be $334 a year per residential unit, 22 cents per square foot for nonresidential properties and a flat $93 for vacant parcels. Commissioner Andrews noted that the assessment ultimately decided on by the county commission does not have to be 100% funding. She said that funding at 25% would be around $80 per year for residents, and that is a figure she could accept.
Carter acknowledged that, by law, government and agriculture are exempt. The county commission will need to decide on other optional exclusions, such as churches, nonprofits and disabled veterans. Any optional exclusions cannot be absorbed by the citizens, so must come from another source, such as property taxes.
Not all counties use the “calls for service” methodology, which evaluates historical demands for service by class: residential per dwelling unit, nonresidential per square foot and vacant land per parcel. The analysis for Bradford County indicates calls for service were 68% residential, 24% nonresidential and 8% vacant land.
Some counties and cities use a sliding scale dependent on property values instead of the calls for service method. It’s up to the county commission to decide many of the details, such as how to define a “dwelling,” and if multiple structures — such as a guest house or she-shed — on the same property are a separate dwelling unit.
The county’s intended timeline is to have a final assessment resolution passed by August or early September so that the final assessment roll can be submitted to the tax collector by Sept. 15. A first class mailing to the public 20 days before the final hearing is required by law.
Updating water meters
The Brooker Town Council meeting began early with a presentation of the new water meters. Ty Jackson and Brianna Gleason from Fortline Waterworks gave details of the smart meters produced by Danish company, Kamstrup. The company came to the U.S. in 2013.
The meters are claimed to save time for data gathering and reporting as well as saving water because of precision measuring and quick leak detection capability. The meters can be read by cell phone while driving by, and the reading will automatically be registered to the office database.
The council members all agreed this would be a big improvement over the current system.
