There are several issues Bob Wells that could be discussed. Here is a letter to the editor I sent to the Herald that is an overview:
One of the most critical issues currently impacting North Walton citizens is our fire and EMS service: what level of service do we need, how will we pay for it and who will manage it. North Walton citizens need to plan to attend the BCC meeting April 25th at 9am in the courthouse at DeFuniak Springs to make the commissioners aware of their desires and needs.
The level of service needed is the first and most important question to be decided. While everyone would like a fire and EMS station next door, the truth is that fire and EMS services are very expensive. Large areas of the North end are several miles away from the nearest fire station and most homes are not close to a fire hydrant. So, the truth is that for many North end residents the fire department can only put the remains out and have almost no chance of saving a structure. To increase this level of service would require building more stations and hiring more employees. One estimate is that an additional 55 employees would be needed to cover every area and those new employees would require a doubling of the current budget of 5 million dollars.
North Walton homeowners currently pay an MSBTU tax of $75 dollars per residence to fund the fire service. This tax provides approximately $970,000 of the current 5-million-dollar budget. The estimate is that the MSBTU tax would have to be increased 5 times on each residence to fully fund the current budget, not counting the proposed increases needed to provide better coverage. Other proposals are to enact a ½ cent sales tax to fund the fire service or to form an independent fire district such as South Walton, Argyle and Liberty with the ability to levy its own taxes.
Finally, who manages the fire service is being discussed. Currently the department is operated by the BCC with a Fire Chief subordinate to the County Administrator. There is a proposal to turn management over to the Sheriff’s Office. The stated purpose of this change is to improve management and services; however, no clear statement has been provided outlining how the Sheriff can accomplish these goals nor how he will pay for any improvements. The funds must still come from the taxpayers through the BCC and the public would have limited input into the issues that arise. Another reason for pause is that the cost of transferring management from the BCC to the Sheriff has not been provided but would undoubtedly be in the hundreds of thousands of taxpayers’ dollars. And a new sheriff sometime in the future would not be required to continue managing this operation which would necessitate another huge expenditure to transfer operational control back to the BCC.
Many North Walton residents are senior citizens or have low to moderate income and cannot afford a 500% increase in their taxes. It would especially onerous to raise taxes whatsoever if the level of service does not rise to give the property owner a reasonable chance of having their property saved in case of a fire. Further, North Walton is predominately rural and the population densities do not produce large numbers of calls for service. The entire North end produces less than one call per hour. These numbers do not justify huge tax increases that will be a horrible burden on those in our community who can least afford to bear it.
In response to this complex and vital issue the Walton County Taxpayers Association has went on record requesting a professional, independent study to provide commissioners with all the information necessary to make an informed decision that is in the best interests of the citizens of North Walton County.