Fire fee gains approval

The city of Gainesville is moving forward with plans to implement a fee of up to $99 per residential household to fund the Gainesville Fire Rescue department.

Called a Fire Services Special Assessment, the fee is seen as a way to prevent fire services from being reduced in a year when the city is facing a $3 million deficit.

Those opposed to the assessment said the burden falls greatest on houses with low property values.

Commissioners voted 5-2, approving an ordinance that gives the city the ability to institute the assessment. Commissioners Ed Braddy and Rick Bryant dissented.

The ordinance will be voted on again June 9.

If approved, notice will be sent to property owners, with the first of two final meetings tentatively scheduled for June 26.

Mayor Pegeen Hanrahan expressed concern about that tight timeframe.

"I always feel strongly that if you don't have the capacity or the timeline to communicate effectively with your public you ought to be cautious," Hanrahan said.

"This is a very difficult time to make too many changes without it being misunderstood."

The fee is based on property type, and the highest annual rates the city could charge are $99 for each residential unit on a property, 13 cents per square foot of commercial property, 6 cents per square foot of industrial property and 17 cents per square foot for institutional properties such as churches and nonprofits.

Those maximum fees would yield the city $11.3 million over the next five years, and the money could only be used for Gainesville Fire Rescue.

"I think actually the people who are shouldering the cost right now are the property owners who are not fully exempt from paying property taxes," Commissioner Craig Lowe said.

Fire Chief William Northcutt has said that the budget cuts faced this year by Gainesville Fire Rescue - about $600,000- could be enough to put an entire fire engine out of service.

The assessment would not, however, tax government-owned property like the University of Florida, the Alachua County School Board and Shands at UF, which account for 32 percent of fire department calls.

Braddy said he wanted to be able to assess a fee to recover money from UF, which accounts for 12 percent of the fire call load.

"We saw the opportunity to recover legitimate expenditures," Braddy said. "It's clear to me that we're not going to get it."

The city has entered discussions with UF, but Bryant said the budget crisis there doesn't make him hopeful.

If commissioners do pass a fire fee, they could reduce the millage rate to try to give a break to taxpayers.

However, properties that are either not homesteaded or are valued below the minimum for homestead exemption would not see any savings.

Assuming a 1 percent rollback in property taxes with the 100 percent fire assessment, taxes on a house valued at $500,000 would decrease by $351.

By comparison, taxes on a $100,000 house would increase by $49, those on a $75,000 house would increase by $79.

"Some people are actually going to see a decrease, people like myself . . .," Bryant said. "I will probably save money, but I'm not the one who really needs it."

Additional concerns were raised because churches and nonprofit organizations, which are exempt from property taxes, would be hit especially hard by the fee.

Megan Rolland can be reached at 338-3104 or megan.rolland@gvillesun.com.