Brooksville council hears updated fire-assessment study as Hernando County offers consolidation option

A presentation by Stantec Consulting on July 7 gave Brooksville City Council a new calculation of the city’s fire-assessment program and opened a public discussion about whether the city should raise rates or consider consolidating fire services with Hernando County.

Peter Napoli, a manager with Stantec Consulting, told council he was hired to “recalculate the rates” after the city reached a previously adopted cap on assessment increases. Napoli said the consultant’s analysis shows the city’s net assessable fire budget is about $2.3 million and that the program currently yields roughly $1.1 million — about 48 percent of the department’s assessable costs. He presented three budget-recovery scenarios: a 100 percent cost-recovery rate that would raise the typical residential assessment to about $356 per year (an increase of roughly $174 over the current rate), a 75 percent scenario with a $278 residential assessment, and a targeted 10 percent increase that would raise residential bills to about $196 and yield a smaller revenue increase. Napoli also said the county requires the final tax roll by Sept. 1 if new rates are adopted in time for the November tax bill.

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