Sumter County commissioners listened to fire assessment fee complaints Tuesday night from business owners at a workshop meeting.
Residents outside The Villages pay a flat fee of $355.58 while business owners pay more because their fees are calculated according to the square footage of the businesses.
Fees in The Villages, which has a separate fire department, are set by the Public Safety Department Dependent District.
Earlier this month, commissioners voted 4-1 to keep the current fees the same in next year’s budget. Commissioner Todd Coon, who owns a landscaping business, opposed the resolution.
Coon said the assessments are unfair because they use different methods of calculating fees for homeowners and businesses.
Commissioners plan to review the fees next year for possible changes in how they are calculated.
In a full-page ad in Tuesday’s Daily Sun, businessman Terry Yoder attacked commissioners for the fees and encouraged people to attend Tuesday’s meeting and speak out against them.
He twice wrote that the four commissioners except Coon were “RINOs” (Republicans in name only).
In the ad, he accused county officials of using “fuzzy math” to calculate the fees and criticized lumping hospitals with restaurants and bowling alleys in a general commercial category.
Speaking at the meeting, Yoder apologized for calling the commissioners RINOs, but said the other term he thought of was “flat out stupid.”
“I’ve been accused of not caring about the fire department,” he said. “They have saved my life. This is personal to me.”
Business owner Steve Munz said county officials have done nothing to change anything “except sticking it to the businesses.” Munz owns and operates Galaxy Home Solutions.
Lake Panasoffkee business owner Darryl Chandler, who operates a fish camp and campground, said the fees have caused him “undue hardship.”
“We can’t raise our prices,” he said.
Jim Veal of Lake Panasoffkee said the fees have pushed his tax burden to the highest in 50 years.
“Nothing in the math makes sense,” he said. “I’m paying more for the assessments than for every other county office.”
Three lawsuits were filed last year challenging the fees, but County Attorney Jennifer Rey said finding a judge has been difficult.
She said a Sumter County judge recused herself because she is a property owner, which could be a conflict of interest.
The case went to Hernando County judge and then returned to a new Sumter County judge. However, the latest judge now has bought a home in Sumter County.