Bradford County holds workshop on proposed fire assessment; $167 residential fee under consideration

Chief Carter, chief of Bradford County Fire Rescue, presented operational data and a proposed fire-assessment model at a county fire-assessment workshop, laying out service levels, funding history and how proposed charges would be applied.

The county consultant nd staff are proposing a 50% assessment scenario that would charge $167 per residential dwelling unit annually, $0.11 per square foot for nonresidential property, and $47 for vacant non-agricultural parcels; churches, government-owned buildings, nonprofits, 100% disabled veterans and households at or below the federal poverty guideline would be exempt. Chief Carter said the county will use the property appraiser—uilding-characteristics field to determine whether a parcel is charged for one or more dwelling units, and described a grievance process (fireassessment@BradfordCountyFL.gov) to request on-site review if a property record misstates a dwelling unit.

Why it matters: County staff framed the assessment as a way to create a reliable revenue source to fund fire and emergency services after the county absorbed volunteer departments and expanded paid operations. Officials and residents discussed tradeoffs including response coverage, insurance-class impacts and affordability.

Carter said the department—urrently averages 9 minutes, 18 seconds for response countywide and that Bradford County falls short of NFPA 1710 benchmarks that many federal grants use as a…