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Highlands Today

Sebring Considers Higher Fire Assessments

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By MANDY SHEETS | Highlands Today

Published: May 8, 2008

SEBRING — Sebring residents and businesses will likely be paying a fire assessment with their next tax bill to help fund the fire department's $2.3 million annual budget.

City Administrator Bob Hoffman said collecting money through assessments is more fair than taxes because everyone that benefits from the service pays proportionally for it.

"The tax system in Florida is so messed up with so many varying levels of tax relief and exemptions," Hoffman said. "It would be nice to have assessments rather than taxes because it's more fair."
Fire Chief Brad Batz said he supports any measure that will allow his department to operate at its current level of service.

"We already have a bare bones budget," Batz said. "If we lose more funding, the level of service will decrease, and I don't think the taxpayers want that."

Government Services Group recently completed a study analyzing the calls the Sebring Fire Department receives to determine how to apply an assessment. Last year, the department responded to 1,201 residential calls, 337 institutional calls, 319 commercial calls, 201 nursing homes calls and 17 industrial calls.

According to case law for assessments, the percentage of calls the department responds to for each type of property has to be equal to the percent of the assessment that groups pays.

For example, residential calls account for about 58 percent of calls to the fire department, so the residential units have to pay 58 percent of the budget. A single-family home would pay $261 per year if the assessment is implemented to fund 100 percent of the fire department's budget.

Nursing homes account for about 10 percent of the calls, so their rate will be the highest at $2.03 per 100,000 square feet. By comparison, institutional properties would pay 30 cents per 100,000 square feet, commercial properties would pay 10 cents, industrial properties would pay 3 cents.

City Council members said they are unsure whether they will impose the assessment to fund the fire department's entire budget or only a portion of it. Avon Park, which has had the fire assessment for many years, funds about 76 percent of its budget through the assessment.

Although City Council members said they want to reduce the millage rate to offset the assessment, Hoffman said he recommends council wait until they receive an estimate of their property tax revenue before they make any decisions about the millage rate.

Camille Tharpe, senior vice president of Government Services Group, said some cities exempt churches and not-for-profits because they provide facilities and services that government may have to provide if they were not there.

City Council members said they want to impose the assessment on all groups, including churches, non-profits and even county office buildings. Tharpe said the city has no power to collect the assessment on schools or government buildings but can still send them a bill.

Council member Margie Rhoades said she also wants to impose an assessment on vacant land, which the council supported.

"We have a lot of vacant land that is annexed into the city," Rhoades said. "I think we need to collect an assessment so we can anticipate future growth along Sparta Road and (State Road) 66."

The council will likely have the first reading on an ordinance to establish the assessment at its May 20 meeting.

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