BY MARK J. CRAWFORD
The long-awaited results of Bradford County’s fire assessment study were revealed last Thursday, and now it’s up to commissioners to decide what to do with that information.
To raise more than $4 million for the fire department budget, the annual fire assessment could be a maximum $309 per residential household. Nonresidential building owners could pay as much as 20 cents per square foot, while owners of vacant parcels could pay $73 a year.
Commission Chairwoman Carolyn Spooner said there’s “no way” commissioners would approve a $309 fee per household, but setting an acceptable amount will require more discussion.
The May 16 presentation by consultants Bryant Miller Olive and Stantec was meant to inform commissioners how they arrived at their numbers and provide options on how to proceed.
Some of the commissioners’ questions during the presentation aimed to assuage previously presented public concerns, including how accessory structures on residential and commercial properties would add to the owners’ annual costs.
Stantec’s Jeff Rackley said it was not typical to include accessory structures such as sheds or pole barns when assessing the cost to the property owner unless the structure had been significantly improved to include utilities or climate control.
A special assessment is a non-ad valorem fee paid alongside annual property taxes to cover the cost of a public service. Bradford County only has a single special assessment in place, and that is for solid waste. Revenue from that assessment can only be used for solid waste disposal costs, and a fire assessment fee could only be used to fund the fire department.
County commissioners have said that diversifying revenue sources could allow them to lower the property tax rate, which is currently set at 10 mills.
In addition to providing property owners with a special benefit (firefighting), the cost of the assessment must be fairly apportioned, Rackley said, explaining the methodology used to arrive at the maximum allowable rates.
As with the previous study in 2018-19, the current study looks at historic call data to fairly apportion the cost of the fire department budget among property owners. Using calls for service is the most commonly used methodology in Florida and has been upheld in state courts, Rackley said.
As previously stated, residential properties are charged per dwelling unit (including multifamily dwellings and apartments), nonresidential properties including businesses, churches, etc., can be charged based on square footage, and vacant parcels pay a flat fee regardless of size.
The commission can exempt religious and other nonprofits entirely. (They pay the solid waste special assessment but are charged the flat $125 residential rate.) Vacant agricultural land is also exempt by statute. Agricultural properties with residential buildings are only charged for those buildings.
In calculating the maximum allowable fire assessment, the consultants considered the historic calls for service, the cost of providing firefighting at the current level of service, and the number of billable units in the county.
They learned that 68% of the calls for services came from residential properties, 24% from nonresidential properties and 8% from vacant parcels. So, that is how the $4.8 million-plus budget was divided among property owners. The budget includes nearly $3.98 million in personnel costs, $548,000 in operations and maintenance costs, plus money for collecting the assessment, contingency, etc.
Those numbers include the cost of Starke’s fire department budget, which presumes city commissioners would also approve the special assessment, allowing both boards to benefit from the residential and commercial revenue to be gleaned inside the city limits. Countywide, the total number of residential properties was 10,656, nonresidential space amounted to nearly 5.86 million square feet, and there were 5,180 vacant parcels.
The assessment amounts calculated are those the county would charge to fund 100% of the 2025 fire department budget — $309 per residential unit, 20 cents per nonresidential square foot and $73 per vacant parcel.
From the projected $4.8 million fee collection, the consultants had to back out the cost of the agricultural exemptions, which was $203,405. If the county exempted religious and other nonprofit groups, that would remove another $442,749. That leaves around $4.2 million for the county to charge on the next tax bill. If property owners take advantage of the 4% discount for early payment, that would make the county’s total revenue from the fire assessment just over $4 million.
The consultants also provided cost recovery calculations lower than 100%. (See related chart.) For example, the residential assessment drops to $186 per year and the nonresidential assessment to 12 cents per square foot to fund 60% of the fire department budget.
Based on Spooner’s word, commissioners won’t seek to fund 100% of the fire department budget through a special assessment. What percentage, however, remains to be seen. The commissioners have some time to discuss this, but there is a timeline to get a new assessment on this year’s tax bills and reflected in next year’s budget.
According to Rackley, the commission should adopt an initial resolution with the proposed fee amounts by the end of July. That will provide time to notify the public of the final adoption date of the resolution, which includes mailing each impacted property owner 20 days before the final hearing. That hearing should take place in August, or at the very latest September, when the county adopts the 2024-25 budget.
While public comment was discouraged during the presentation, Spooner assured everyone that citizens would have a chance to speak during the public hearings.
Ambulance wait fees added
While a proposed assessment for emergency medical services was not a part of the presentation, the county has found a new revenue source.
Bradford County Fire Rescue Chief Ben Carter said EMS services around the country are dealing with hospital waits that essentially turn ambulance stretchers into waiting rooms. To recoup money for the lost time, he proposed, and the commission approved, a new set of fees that would charge hospitals by the hour when paramedics must wait for a patient to be admitted.
The $168 base rate will cover the first 20 minutes, plus $63 every quarter-hour after that. The base rate will be repeated after each hour, with the quarterly charges continuing. BCFR would, for example, bill $945 for a 125-minute wait.
Carter said hospitals, not patients, would be billed for the wait.
