If you’re one of nearly 78,000 St. Johns County residents who live in the unincorporated areas of the county, check your mailbox within the next day or two for a notice about the upcoming Fire Services Municipal Services Benefit Unit fee assessment.
The assessment (.pdf), designed to replace the current ad valorem Fire Services tax, was recently approved by county commissioners as a means of providing more stable funding for Fire Services and as a more equitable assessment structure.
Fire Services staff members held an internal staff meeting with county spokeswoman Karen Pan Tuesday morning to brush up on their customer service skills, as they anticipate feedback from county residents with concerns or questions, she said.
“There’s a phone number at the bottom of the letter—a hotline we’ll be manning that will be mostly Fire Service personnel, but there will be another four or five of us for backup,” she said.
“We are also encouraging residents to visit our website at www.sjcfl.us/FireMSBU for more information, frequently asked questions, implementation process, key dates, etc,” she added, via e-mail. “We'd also like to bring attention to the public information meeting scheduled for Wednesday, July 23 at 7:00 p.m. in the county auditorium.”
“We’ll be there to explain everything and it’ll be a chance for the public to learn the logic behind it and to ask questions,” said Pan.
The Board of County Commissioners’ August 5 regular meeting will feature the final hearing for the Fire Services MSBU, where they’ll have the option to officially implement the assessment.
Since the concept of initiating the Fire Services MSBU was hatched, Pan and county commissioners have repeatedly stated that the new assessment, based upon each home’s total square footage and fire-hazard categorization, is not a new tax, and that it replaces the current ad valorem funding method.
"The square footage used to calculate the size of structure is the total square feet under a roof, opposed to the air-conditioned space that is normally used to identify square footage in real estate," said Pan via e-mail. This makes sense because all the area needs fire protection. Also, the assessment amounts have been calculated through a very technical process that assesses properties for the amount it actually costs to provide fire services to that property."
Leave a comment if you have any concerns or questions about the letter, and keep in mind that you’re highly encouraged to attend the upcoming public meeting regarding this issue to voice your opinions and questions there as well.
July 16th 2008 - 2:51PM