To the Village Public Safety Department Development District:
I listened to the entire marathon of public comments and questions at the Sumter County Board of Commissioners meeting when the commissioners voted down the Fire/Rescue taxation plan for FY 2023/24; this resulted in the large FY23/24 Villages Public Safety Department budget deficit. Many members of the public presented many sad stories, including one about a trailer park serving poor snow birds and that the proposed taxation would put them out of business.
The District Government has announced that the three public information sessions are scheduled for March 11 through March 25. Page 16 of “Preliminary Analysis of VPSDDD Special Assessment for Fire/Rescue Services” contains examples of the expected tax impact on single-family homes.
I assume similar information will be included in the presentation material for the three meetings. Based on my experience with the turmoil at that BOCC meeting, I suggest the tax impact be included in the March 11 presentation for the following tax parcels:
- Colony Plaza, parcel G01-022, Taxable Value = $17.9 million,
- One group of Commercial Buildings at Brownwood, parcel G08D003, Taxable Value = $15.5 million. This single tax parcel contains Codys, City Fire & The Villages Filling Station, and all the buildings in between.
- Brownwood Hotel + Medical, parcel G08-115C, Taxable Value = $83.1 million. The Brownwood Hotel is seven stories tall, and the annual insurance cost likely benefits from the VPSD million+ dollar 95-foot tower-ladder truck at nearby Fire Station 45.
- Lofts of Brownwood, parcel G08D102, Taxable Value = $27.7 million, 265 apartments, three stories.
- Rails End Trailer Park, parcel G23A200, Taxable Value = $ 986,160.
Assuming that the 1.31 mill rate is correct for “Current Funding” on page 16 of Preliminary Analysis of VPSDDD Special Assessment for Fire/Rescue Services, the following table shows the current Funding for the five parcels.
To verify the data, you can use this link to the Sumter County Property Assessor and the parcel IDs shown above.
John Kastura is a 20-year resident of the Village of Belvedere.