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The county Board of Supervisors recently adopted
the FY 2000 budget, but it wasn’t without some
excitement. The Fire Levy taxes, as a result of board actions, will now be based on use-value instead of fair-market value.
Even though board members disagreed on whether this was a good move, they were in agreement that changing how the tax was assessed would reduce revenues for the Fire Levy by $70,000 - $75,000.
What does this mean? First of all, it means that a surplus the Fire levy has accumulated over four years will be gone within the next year or two. As a result, if the fire companies need money for anything beyond normal operating expenses then such money will likely have to come from the general fund.
It also means, however, that farmers will get a tax break - at least this year. The flip side of this is that everyone, like it or not, will almost certainly pay higher taxes n,ext year as a tax increase seems likely.
Whether or not it seems fair, fire and rescue is once again the subject of heated debate. Even though a retirement program for fire and rescue workers has been tabled for the immediate future, there remains the issue of what to do with fire and rescue.
Some think that paid career service people are inevitable. Others say that it is more feasible to try and maintain volunteer fire companies. Either way, someone is not going to be happy. The decision makers in this county are supposed to listen to the people, but they cannot please everybody. Regardless of how they handle fire and rescue, or any other issue, they should be prepared for someone to be angry with them.
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