Marion County commissioners review proposed updates to fire assessment methodology and potential rate increases

Marion County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday held a workshop to review proposed updates to Marion County Fire Rescue’s municipal services benefit unit (MSBU) assessment methodology, including rate calculations, examples of property impacts and options for implementing changes.

Fire Chief James Banta, Marion County Fire Rescue, opened the presentation, calling the meeting “an important opportunity for us to review and discuss the future of Marion County Fire Rescue’s assessment structure,” and said the review aims to keep funding “fair, sustainable, and aligned with the evolving needs of our residents and our businesses.”

Consultant Sandy Newbarth of Accenture (formerly Government Services Group) described the study’s two-part approach to the assessment: a demand component that allocates costs by where firefighters spend time in service (training, apparatus testing and other non-available time) and an availability component that apportions the remainder of assessable costs across structure-equivalent units (EDUs) or parcels. Newbarth summarized the study’s five-year average assessable budget and how the two components translate into per-unit charges.

Why this matters: The MSBU pays for a portion of fire-protection costs that would otherwise be covered from other revenue sources. Changes to methodology or the level of budget funded by the MSBU will shift the distribution of costs among residential, commercial, institutional and vacant-land property owners.

Key figures and methodology - The study uses a five-year average net expenditure of about $86,000,000 and identifies roughly $57,681,000 as the assessable portion of that budget (the portion allocable to the MSBU). Newbarth said the assessable portion is split between the demand and availability components. - Demand (time firefighters are not available to respond): 35.68% of assessable costs, roughly $20,580,000 in the study. Availability (time firefighters are available to respond): 64.32%, roughly $37,100,000. - For the demand component, the study allocates calls by property category using fiscal year 2022–23 call data. The consultant reported 61.1% of calls were to residential properties, 14.84% to commercial, 1.43% to industrial/warehouse, 6.49% to institutional, 1.99% to miscellaneous buildings and 14.16% to land. - Billing units: the demand component is charged per dwelling unit for residential and on a per-square-foot basis for nonresidential categories (with miscellaneous included only if >300 sq ft). Land is charged on a per-acre basis (improved parcels charged only over 5 acres, capped at 640 acres). For the availability component, the study converts structure square footage to EDUs using an average single-family structure size of 2,685 sq ft: every dwelling unit equals one EDU; nonresidential EDUs are calculated by dividing square footage by 2,685.

Illustrative rates and examples - Using the five-year average assessable budget, the study calculates a demand per-dwelling-unit of $76.53 and an availability per-EDU of $207.44, which combine to a total illustrative charge of $283.97 per dwelling unit. - The consultant reported county totals used in the calculation: 64,317 dwelling units (about 23,000 more than the 2019 study), 178,848 EDUs, and numeric square-foot totals for commercial, industrial, institutional and miscellaneous categories that were used to compute per-square-foot or per-acre rates. - Property examples shown in the presentation included: a 50-unit apartment complex would see an estimated increase of $4,203; a 10,000 sq ft office building about $1,100; a 240,000 sq ft industrial warehouse about $940; a 20,000 sq ft nursing home (if not tax-exempt) about $1,729; a 20-acre vacant parcel about $33.24.

Alternatives and policy options discussed - The consultant described an alternative availability methodology that bases the first tier on structure value (per-value EDUs) and a second tier with a flat parcel charge for availability; Newbarth said this approach sometimes shifts the burden toward residential and vacant land and that some jurisdictions studied had rejected it after administrative complexity or equity concerns. - Commissioners discussed implementation choices: (a) adopt a five-year averaged rate to smooth year-to-year changes, or (b) adopt a stepped annual implementation (lower first-year charge with increases in subsequent years) calibrated to fully fund each budget year. The consultant presented a stepped-example pathway that would implement a lower initial year charge (presented as $237.22 for year one, roughly a $37 increase over the current single-family assessment of $199.91) and increase annually to an example five-year level (presented in the slides as $325.43 in year five) if the board chose that approach.

Board discussion, constraints and timing - Commissioners pressed staff and the consultant on what parts of the proposed budget could be covered by sales tax, impact fees or other revenue sources. Staff and the chief said most of the proposed five-year increase is personnel-related and that some capital items in the proposed budget were already judged to be the “bare minimum” and could not be funded by existing sales-tax allocations without delaying other projects. - Fire Rescue staffing: Assistant/Deputy (Robert Graff, Fire Rescue) said the department had 24 openings in the fire budget and 11 openings in EMS at the time of the workshop, with 40 people in training and 27 placed in the field that week; the consultant noted most of the MSBU budget is personnel costs. - Schedule and next steps: the board asked staff to return with an amended and stated initial assessment resolution (a required step before TRIM notices) and implementation options. Commissioners were told the property-appraiser/TRIM timeline requires numbers by early June (the consultant and staff referenced a June 1 TRIM cutoff) and that a final rate resolution and public hearing would be held in September. The clerk and county administrator were directed to place an item on an upcoming agenda for continued discussion, with an initial resolution planned for May and the final resolution/public hearing in September.

Quotes "This workshop is an important opportunity for us to review and discuss the future of Marion County Fire Rescue's assessment structure," said James Banta, Fire Chief, Marion County Fire Rescue. "You have 2 components to your fire assessment. You have a demand component and you have an availability component," said Sandy Newbarth, Accenture, explaining the two-part methodology. "I prefer to just go ahead and get that dollar value set for the 5 years as my personal preference," said Commissioner Stone.

What was not decided - The board did not adopt a final rate or formally vote on any ordinance or resolution at the workshop. Commissioners gave staff direction to prepare the amended initial assessment resolution and return with more detailed options, comparisons to neighboring jurisdictions (requested by commissioners for the public hearing materials) and scenarios for partial funding levels (for example 25%, 50% and 75% funding illustrations) prior to the May initial resolution deadline.

Next steps Staff will prepare an amended and stated initial assessment resolution for board consideration in May (to meet TRIM notice timing), incorporate comparative data requested by the board for the public hearing packet, and schedule the formal public hearing and final resolution vote in September. The county administrator and staff were asked to provide scenarios showing different implementation levels and the effect on sales tax or impact-fee funding if applicable.