Midway FD mulls flat tax
Referendum goes before public in 2008
BY PAM BRANNON Gulf Breeze News news@gulfbreezenews.com

Franklin Hayes/Gulf Breeze News Midway firefighter Rodney Gajewski calibrates a lifepack 12 defibrillator at the Midway Fire District (MFD). District officials are concerned for their budget and a weighing their options.

Midway Fire District taxpayers will be asked to go to the polls in January for a referendum election. The issue: how to fund their fire department in the future.

At a special meeting of the fire commission board last week it was decided to hire Government Services Group, Inc. from Tallahassee to do an independent study of the fire district's services and possible funding solutions. The group will look at which is the better recommendation for funding sources - special flat fee assessments or ad valorem taxes. Or it may recommend a combination of both and outline how that can be accomplished. The study will also assess the services the Midway Fire District offers, and give an outside evaluation of what each of those services are worth in the service industry, and recommend whether there should be a fee schedule to cover certain services that are now offered free by the fire department.

"No matter what we decide, we have to take it to the voters in a referendum ballot in January," Fire Commission Chair Buck Thackeray said. "And we have to give the county election office 30-60 days notice."

When commissioners were concerned about the price tag of $20,000-plus legal fees, Demeter offered to do an inhouse study. However, some residents attending the special meeting and some fire commissioners believed it would be better to have an independent out- side source to give the recommendations.

Treasurer Clyde Broome said, "I just think there is no way we can charge a flat fee that people will pay that can possibly cover our whole budget."

Broome presented spread sheets showing 10-year projections for revenues and expenditures. If everything stayed the same as it is today, including the lack of any higher increase in property values, by 2018 Midway Fire District would be $823,000 "in the hole," Broome said. They will start going into the red with the 2009 budget.

Broome said Midway Fire District protects 12,300 single family units and 700 businesses. The Chief said they are currently responding to 2,000 calls a year, and 700 of those are fire calls.

Buck Thackeray said, "We are charged with protecting 25,000 - 30,000 people. That is the largest community on the peninsula, much larger than Gulf Breeze City. About 95.5 percent of our revenue comes from ad valorem taxes, while only about 23 percent of Gulf Breeze City's revenues comes from ad valorem taxes and the rest from other sources, like water, sewer, tickets."

Midway Fire District's current budget is just under $3 million a year.

Thackeray said he personally would favor getting away from using ad valorem taxes altogether. "I know whether our firefighters respond to a trailer fire or a $250,000 house, it costs the same."

Commissioner Joe McPherson agreed, saying. "There are plenty of other sources, also, we can go to for more revenue. Like we could start charging Gulf Power a fee when a line comes down and we have to send a unit to sit there for a couple hours. We could charge them a fee, but we all know in the end who will really end up paying - it will be passed on to the taxpayers."

Thackeray said, "We charge our residents on their property taxes, but we don't charge anything to government agencies or churches. I am about ready to charge a fee to the schools, for example, for the service we provide. Right now, we are promising fire protection and response for medical calls for all the schools within our district for free. Maybe we should charge an annual fee for that service, as any other service provider does with the school."

Thackeray added one place that might be good to start charging for services is the county annex building in Midway.

"The property appraiser's office suddenly told us this year that we have to come up with $58,000 that we did not plan for in our budget for services from that office. Well, we have a property appraiser's office right in the middle of Midway to which we provide protection and services for free. Maybe we should start charging a services fee to them."

Treasurer Broome suggested a service fee of $58,000 might be fair, which brought chuckles and agreement from both residents and commissioners.

Broome also said he believes the fire commission needs to go to the voters with a proposal to simply raise the ad valorem tax rate from the current 1.4 mills to 1.8 mills, with no additional flat fee.

"I simply do not think a flat fee and a request for even a slight increase in ad valorem taxes will fly with voters," Broome said. "I think we need to keep it simple. And an increase to 1.8 mills would cover us for several years."

A mill generates $1 for every $1,000 of property value. An increase from 1.4 mills to 1.8 mills would add up to 40-cents more per $1,000 in property value on a home. On a $100,000 home, that would mean an additional $40 a year.