By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter

                Bronson Fire Rescue has always been funded only by property taxes, but that could soon change depending on whether the Bronson Town Council decides to impose a fire assessment on homes and businesses.

                Council members voted unanimously Monday night to go forward with advertising for a public hearing on Dec. 20 at 6 p.m. to take public input and make a decision on whether to spend $32,000 on a fire assessment study.

            The council would decide at the hearing whether to hire a Tallahassee consulting firm, Nabors, Giblin, & Nickerson and its local government planning division, Government Services Group, to develop a special assessment to help pay for fire services in Bronson.

            For now, the city isn’t spending any money on developing the fire assessment except to advertise in a newspaper for four consecutive weeks. The advertisements will invite the public to the Dec. 20 hearing. Bronson doesn’t have a newspaper, so the town will have to advertise in a Chiefland or Williston newspaper.

             At this point, the council doesn’t know how much it might charge residents and businesses for fire protection through the use of an assessment, but Town Manager Susan Beaudet, who proposed the fire tax at the council meeting, said the town would need to be ready by Jan. 1, 2022, to notify the property appraiser’s office, tax collector’s office and Florida Department of Revenue of its intention to add a fire assessment to the town’s property tax bills next year.

            Beaudet said the idea for a fire assessment came from a series of strategic community meetings aimed at developing a 5-year plan to map out Bronson’s future. Someone on the strategic planning committee suggested the town adopt a fire assessment. She brought it to the board.

            Beaudet said Nabors, Giblin, & Nickerson would schedule public hearings and prepare the necessary documents needed to implement the assessment if the town council decides to go forward with the study.

            Responding to Spotlight questions Thursday, Beaudet said the public hearing on Dec. 20 is to notify residents that the town intends to use the “uniform method of collecting non-ad valorem special assessments” within the city limits of Bronson.

            “In other words, the fire assessment would be included on the property tax bill,” she said.

            She said if the town council decides to fund the study, Nabors, Giblin, & Nickerson and Government Services Group would make a proposal to the town on the proposed size of the special assessment to be imposed.

            “In order for the public to provide input, there would be an additional public hearing,” she said. “Please keep in mind that the town council may decide not to implement the fire assessment at any time. If that is the case, then the fire department would continue to be funded through property taxes, utility payments, etc.”

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Town of Bronson Regular Meeting November 15, 2021; Posted November 18, 2021