BY DAN HILDEBRAN
Union County commissioners held a town hall meeting for Worthington Springs residents at the county’s extension office to discuss proposed increases to special assessments, impact fees, and a potential gas tax as the county faces significant budget shortfalls in its solid waste and emergency medical services operations.
The meeting, attended by only nine residents, revealed stark realities about the county’s financial situation.
According to County Coordinator Jimmy Williams, the solid waste department’s budget for fiscal year 2023-24 was $1.3 million, while special assessment collections totaled only approximately $320,000, leaving nearly a $1 million shortfall.
“We’re doing this because we think if we don’t do something, the service is going to go away and you’re going to have to take your garbage out to the landfill and make your own arrangements because we’re at a point where if we don’t stop the bleeding out of our reserves, there will be no reserves,” added Commissioner Donna Jackson. “We’ve pulled $1.7 million out of reserves like the last couple of years. If we need $1.7 million in this coming year, there won’t be $1.7 million there to get.”
Decades Without Increases
Commissioners emphasized that special assessments for garbage disposal and emergency medical services have remained largely unchanged since the 1980s. The current assessment is $70 per household for each service, a rate that has not kept pace with inflation or operational costs.
Clerk Kellie Hendricks Rhoades explained that to break even in fiscal year 2026, the special assessment would need to be approximately $131 per household just for solid waste, based on roughly 4,450 residential properties paying the fee.
“It’s not realistic to expect that you would run your household on the same income you were getting in 1989 and expect to operate that household today,” Jackson noted, addressing concerns about rate increases.
Multiple Revenue Strategies Proposed
To address the funding gap without placing the entire burden on special assessments, commissioners discussed several options:
Impact Fees: The board is considering implementing impact fees of approximately $1,500 to $2,000 on new construction permits. Williams calculated that with an average of 80 new building permits per year, this would generate enough revenue to purchase a new ambulance every two years, which is the typical replacement cycle.
Gas Tax: A gas tax was mentioned as a way to spread the burden to those passing through the county, with potential revenue directed toward road department operations.
Collection Site Improvements: Following Bradford County’s model, commissioners discussed requiring stickers for residents to access collection sites. Bradford County reportedly reduced garbage volume by 40% at its Keystone Heights site after implementing such a system, primarily by preventing non-residents from using the facilities.
RV Park Assessment Controversy
A significant portion of the discussion focused on RV parks, which commissioners acknowledged are not paying their fair share under current regulations. Currently, a legal RV park with dozens of sites pays only a single residential assessment, the same as a single-family home.
“So, for the RV park, I would say,” Williams said, referring to the Palm RV Park in Worthington Springs, “I don’t know how many are in there now, 60, 70. I’m not sure how many RVs are in there now. They are paying … I believe it got changed to this Commercial Garbage 1, and it’s paying $65 a year in garbage.”
Jackson noted that 911 calls frequently come from these locations that aren’t paying adequate taxes.
“Our sheriff’s office is telling us day in and day out that a lot of their calls are coming from these places that are not even paying taxes,” she said. “So, there’s a sense of fairness that I’ve tried to address.”
Landfill Operations and Tipping Fees
Williams provided data showing that between January 2024 and December 2024, Union County paid $272,775 in tipping fees to the New River landfill. In return, the county receives a host fee of $100,000 annually for having the landfill located in Union County, and an additional $100,000 for being one of the association’s three partners. The other partners are Baker and Bradford Counties. That leaves Union County approximately $70,000 in the red just for garbage disposal, before accounting for operational costs.
Jackson and Chairman Channing Dobbs, who sit on the New River Solid Waste Association Board, expressed frustration that commercial entities like Lake Butler’s McDonald’s pay minimal special assessments while generating significant waste.
“Let’s use our imaginations,” Jackson said. “McDonald’s is a Commercial Garbage 4, so that would mean that McDonald’s pays $130 a year to dispose of all of the garbage created out of McDonald’s from their two dumpsters, I think, that are out back. Do you think that’s fair? That’s what they pay.”
Williams explained that the current commercial garbage categories, established in 1988, no longer reflect actual usage patterns.
Emergency Medical Services Under Strain
The EMS department faces similar financial pressures. Operating a single ambulance costs approximately $800,000 to $1 million annually, according to Williams. The county currently runs two ambulances, and residents have expressed interest in a third unit to improve response times.
“Every time you build these subdivisions, and you have this influx of people, what happens when you have more people? They’re dialing 911 a lot more,” Jackson explained, justifying the need for impact fees to offset the cost of serving new development.
Resident Concerns and Commissioner Response
Laurel Schaffna, a Union County resident, suggested the board wait until after November 2026 to see what additional property tax revenue comes in from new construction and property sales before making permanent changes. However, commissioners countered that the county has already depleted its reserves and can no longer afford to delay action.
“The county commission has put off making these decisions for so long now that we’re at a critical point,” Jackson said. “None of us who sit up here want to be known as the board that raised your taxes. We’re doing this because we think if we don’t do something, the service is going to go away.”
Johns declared that by living in the woods, almost off-grid, he doesn’t need fire-rescue or the sheriff’s office.
“The majority of people aren’t like that anymore,” he added. “They want this and they want that, but they don’t want to pay taxes to get it. That doesn’t work. Now we’re not creating new taxes. We’re just saying, well, if we’re going to keep up with the flow, the county’s grown, the government’s grown, but our income has not grown. So, it’s time to give Union County a raise.”
Low Turnout Despite High Stakes
Despite the significance of the issues, attendance was sparse. Citizen Eric Williams noted that he was the only person to attend a similar meeting held in Lake Butler, despite a nearby tree-lighting ceremony with refreshments attracting 60 people.
“If I counted right, there are nine people up there, and there are only nine out here,” said resident Kimberly Sweat, who noted the irony of complaints on social media word-of-mouth pages versus actual meeting attendance.
Johns addressed the participation issue.
“The people don’t want to come to meetings,” he said. “After the fiasco of Bradford County’s (fire assessment hearings and vote), we all decided to try our very best to be transparent. And we have tried our very best.”
Next Steps
The commission has one more town hall scheduled in Providence before making final decisions. All commissioners emphasized that their budgets are public records and encouraged citizens to review the documents or ask questions.
