Residents Question Why Bronson Fire Tax Needed

By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter

Bronson Town Council members were questioned this week on why they want to impose a fire tax of up to $268 on residents who can least afford to pay it, the homeowners.

It would be a special assessment levied once a year.

The council and its consultant from Nabors, Giblin, and Nickerson said the $268 figure is the maximum the council could charge. The assessment could go as low as $129 for individual homeowners.

Businesses would be charged 3 cents per square foot.

The council won’t make a final decision until September of this year when it must notify the county property appraiser whether it plans to add the assessment property tax bills.

Resident Mary Tracy said she finds it hard to believe as a homeowner she would be shouldering a heavier cost than Bronson businesses.

“It’s difficult for me to think Dollar General would be paying a whole lot less based on their square footage than I will be paying on my 1,000 square foot home,” she said.

A study conducted by Nabors, Giblin, and Nickerson showed that 88 percent of all fire calls in Bronson were made from homes. The study was based on calls made to Bronson Fire Rescue over the past three years.

Based on the number of calls, the study said homeowners must shoulder 88 percent of the cost of the special assessment and businesses just 8 percent of the cost because businesses make 8 percent of the calls for fire services.

Former Councilwoman Beatrice Roberts said that didn’t make sense to her. She asked Fire Chief Dennis Russell what percentage of his department’s calls were related to Emergency Medical Services.

“Probably 80 percent,” Russell said.

The study said Bronson Fire Rescue was considered a first responder agency and therefore all of its calls are listed as being fire-related.

“So, 20 percent is fire, so none of this seems fair to me,” Roberts said. “That doesn’t make any sense to me.”

The council learned that there are 483 homes in Bronson.

The town paid $32,000 for the study.

“That seems like a huge amount of money without a lot of return,” Tracy said.

Attorney Brandon Peters asked why the fire assessment was even necessary. He called it corporate welfare because homeowners were shouldering a bigger share of the cost of the assessment than businesses.

Partin responded that he talked to Russell recently about the cost of fuel alone for the fire department. Partin said the fire department was quickly using up the money allotted for fuel. He told Russell to be cautious about using fuel.

“I want us to be capable of handling any emergency situation we might have,” Partin said. “I’m not saying we have to be Gainesville. I’m not saying we have to be Chiefland or Williston. I just want us to be able to continue responding to every emergency.

Tracy said it was hard to imagine the city adding $268 to her property tax bill.

“We’re not going to charge $268. We’re not going to do the 100 percent maximum,” said Councilman Jason Hunt. “I’m just one person. I’m not speaking for the whole board but if we do anything it’s going to be $129. I don’t think we need that much funding from citizens for the fire department to move us in the right direction. I think $129 is sustainable for what we need to do. That’s my personal opinion. I’m only one person.”

The study indicated that $129 would generate about $61,000 annually for the fire department.