MCBCC comes to consensus on increased fire assessments

File photo: Marion County Fire Rescue Chief James Banta, right, speaks as Commissioners Craig Curry, left, and Michelle Stone, center, listen during a joint workshop at the Marion County Commission auditorium in Ocala, Fla. on Thursday, March 13, 2025. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2025.

The Marion County Board of County Commissioners came to a consensus during their May 6 regularly scheduled board meeting that they will increase the fire rescue assessment fee to account for population growth and additional needs for service.

They agreed to work on a resolution they will pass that raises the fire assessment from $199 to $280.78 over the next five years for residential homes.

The fire assessment fee is tacked on to all real estate tax bills sent out annually to real property owners. Fire rescue assessment rates are different from impact fees and the penny sales tax, as the revenue can be used for regular department costs and operations. Impact fees and penny sales tax revenue can only be used for capital projects and infrastructure.

Assessment rates are only charged to residents living outside of city borders. The city of Ocala has its own fire assessment rate, which is higher than the county rate, at $364.15 for a single-family home with a square footage between 1,601 and 2,500.

Marion County Fire Rescue Chief James Banta presented data to the County Commission at a workshop on Feb. 27 that gave options for a one-time rate increase or a gradual rate increase over the next five years.

He presented three options to the MCBCC members on May 6:

1. Raise the assessment from $199 to $237.12 for the 2025/26 budget year and $290 for the next four budget years.
2. Raise the assessment from $199 to $280.78 over the next five years.
3. Raise the assessment from $199 to $283.97 for the next five years as recommended by a study.

MBOCC chair Kathy Bryant anticipated some hard budget decisions and encouraged the board to “ease into” the increase for taxpayers by stepping up the assessment for 2025/26 to 2026/27, saving $52.88 for 25/26.

Commissioners Craig Curry, Michelle Stone and Carl Zalak expressed empathy with Bryant’s concerns, but ultimately voiced support for the plan to assess the $280.78 for the five years.

The commissioners noted that next year, the county will be renegotiating the collective bargaining agreement with the fire union and asked the fire chief if this assessment took into consideration the potential requests of that negotiation, to which he responded affirmatively that it had been factored into his five-year projection.

The resolution also includes increases for commercial properties and vacant land as follows: 

The fire fee assessment resolution will need to be made annually.