By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter

                A proposed fire assessment program for Williston that was rejected many years ago by the city council is once again being discussed in a preliminary way.

            Williston council members agreed Tuesday to allow Fire Chief Lamar Stegall to continue gathering information on a fire tax and possibly invite a well-known consulting firm to provide more details to the council.

            Government Services Group, a branch of the Nabors, Giblin, and Nickerson law firm in Tallahassee, may be contacted by Stegall to talk to the council about the costs of implementing a fire assessment, the fire assessment study that is involved, and options for the council funding the study.

            A memo from the Williston Fire Department estimated the development and implementation of a fire assessment would cost between $28,000 and $34,000. The costs could be recouped from the fire assessment revenue.

            Stegall used a fire assessment of $129 per year for residential properties in Williston to determine that the estimated gross revenue from the fire tax would be about $133,000 annually. His numbers didn’t include commercial and industrial properties.

            Bronson and Chiefland implement a fire tax of $129 per residence annually. The Levy County Commission also levies a fire tax in unincorporated areas of $129 per residence. The county fire tax isn’t levied in cities but is used to pay cities to fight fires outside their municipal boundaries.

            In Chiefland, the fire tax rate for non-residential properties is 5 cents per square foot and the rate for vacant land is $10 per parcel. Bronson levies 2 cents per square foot for non-residential properties and $8 for vacant land with its fire tax.

            Fire assessment charges for commercial and industrial buildings are often low. Fire tax assessment studies in Chiefland and Bronson found that most of the city fire calls were to residences, not commercial or industrial properties. Consequently, residents shouldered the greatest burden for paying the fee.

            City Attorney Scott Walker said it’s best to let professionals handle a fire assessment study. He said GSG, the firm Stegall mentioned, is familiar with state law requirements and will base the assessment on a study of the city property tax roll, fire calls, and other pertinent fact-based information.

            “If you do it wrong, and there’s a municipality that did it wrong, and they are paying back to the residents millions of dollars, so you want to be very careful how you approve this assessment,” Walker said.

            Walker provided the information after Councilman Jerry Robinson reminded the council that state statute gives the city several options for levying the fire assessment including the city sending out the bills and collecting the fire tax money. Most cities allow the county tax collector to place the assessment on tax bills.

            Chiefland and Bronson used GSG to conduct their fire assessment studies, and both allow the county tax collector to collect the taxes and remit the money to the cities.

            Mayor Charles Goodman said he was a member of the Williston City Council when the fire assessment program was rejected the last time. He noted the initial fire assessment study would cost at least $20,000 and it would be a recurring cost every three or four years along with $5,000 to $7,000 costs per year between studies.

            “I recall that period you’re talking about and the reason the council chose not to do it was because of the recurring costs,” Goodman said. “I’m not suggesting that’s a good reason, but that’s the reason the council did not go ahead with that fire assessment because of the recurring costs.”

            Stegall said the city wouldn’t have time to put a fire assessment on the tax roll for the fiscal year that starts on Oct. 1, 2023, but he said if the city can do the study and have everything ready to go by Dec. 31, the city stands a chance of having the fire tax in place by Oct. 1, 2024.

            Chiefland and Bronson are using their fire tax to supplement the budgets of their fire departments. Property owners in both cities already were paying for fire services through their ad valorem property taxes.

            The Levy County Commission provides both cities with a large cash contribution for fighting fires outside their city limits. All the city fire departments in Levy County are asking for a 16 percent increase in the county’s contribution for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1.

            Stegall said if the 16 percent increase is approved by the county commission, it would mean the county would be contributing more than $300,000 annually to the Williston Fire Department.

————————

City of Williston Regular Meeting June 6, 2023; Posted June 9, 2023