Mythology versus Reality on Sales Tax Referendum versus Higher Property Taxes to Pay for Fire......

Separate facts from mythology if you want to make a cogent argument against everyone sharing in the shouldering of a tax to pay for fire service

Some folks are already attempting to shoot holes through the idea of a sales tax based system for funding fire protection in Escambia County.  They are implying it would harm those who are poor and struggling to pay for food.

But sales taxes are not applied to groceries.  Groceries are exempt. To say otherwise is untrue.

Gas is also exempt from this particular sales tax.  (Don't get me wrong--each gallon of gas is LOADED UP with all kinds of Federal, State, and some Local taxes---but this particluar sales tax is not applied and would not be applied--so this change, in and of itself, will not make gas more expensive for poor people) To say otherwise is untrue.

Other necessary purchases that are subject to taxation that are important to all citizens, (wealthy/middle class/poor)-- such as back to school supplies or hurricane supplies--are frequently given sales tax amnesty periods where no state taxes are applied to applicable purchases.  So with proper planning--- even those sales taxes can be avoided by all consumers in Escambia County.

Yes--big ticket items like automobiles, appliances, furniture--yes these carry a sales tax burden.  But often these taxes can be rolled into the financing deal or a discount equal to sales taxes can be negotiated.

Yes--retail and big ticket purchases are subject to sales tax.  That means if someone is "POOR" and they spend, say, $5,000 a month on non-exempt retail purchases, the total additional sales taxes they would pay if this proposal for a half-penny moves forward by the voters, would be............insert sound of drumroll............   ($25 dollars extra).  (Most truly poor individuals won't even spend $5,000 per YEAR on cash money purchases subject to full taxation--when all exempt purchases they make are taken out of the equation.....)

Here's a couple of newsflashes:

1.  If you are spending $5,000  per month (equalling 60K Yearly) on sales tax applicable non-exempt retail merchandise you probably do not meet any rational definition of  "poor."

2.  If you still, somehow, feel as though you are "poor" and yet can afford to spend $5,000 per month

Fixing the Fire Service Budgeting In Escambia County Part II

Is there a way to more intelligently budget for the fire service in Escambia County?  Answer--yes...

It is disappointing when a subject of universal community importance and concern becomes weaponized against those of us that make policy and set budgets using limited resources. 

Unfortunately this happens and it happens frequently in politics at the local level. 

When I was a school board member, when negotiations were not going the way the teacher's union wanted them to go, our meetings would become packed with union members wearing red shirts.  We would have dozens of speakers warning of the dire consequences of not adequately funding education.  Some speakers would become quite animated and aggressive.  It was ugly.  We got through these events, though. We compromised, and education in Escambia County continued.  But at no time did we ever NOT value teachers and education--we just had to make tough budget decisions.

Then in my first year as a county commissioner, the BCC was ridiculed and attacked viciously and unprofessionally in commercials, online, and on billboards when we did not immediately acquiesce to unrealistic and unsustainable salary increase demands from the Sheriff's department.  We went back and forth, did mediation, and eventually we reached a compromise agreement and a 4-year deal. We got the Law Enforcement Trust process fixed and we increased salaries---  But no matter what anyone said about us, no matter who said the board didn't respect and value law enforcement--those statements were always lies and that rhetoric was always pure propaganda--none of it was ever true.  (Unfortunately some very gullible folks actually believed this.  Sadly, some still do.  But it wasn't true--isn't now and it never was.)

So now we come to 2019 and the fire department budget is in the red.  Union negotiations are going on and some members of the career firefighter ranks are pushing us for more resources.  Some are getting aggressive online and at the dais.

Are there legitimate concerns about fire service equipment--yes?  And yes, the MSBU is not fully funding the budget of the fire service.

So now what?

Some folks would just love us to raise tax rates on command.  They say "we need the money, now raise taxes!"

But I'm never going to vote to raise the year over year tax rate on Escambia county property owners if there are other viable solutions to budget issues. I've never voted to increase rates in 12 years in public office--and I'm not starting now. We have to live within our budgets just like households and small businesses do.  And I do believe there are viable options available apart from raising year-over-year tax rates.

FIXING THE ISSUES WITH THE VOLUNTEERS

As I said in Part I of this series, we need to take some steps to help our yearly fire service fund increases become more predictable and larger--I went through some steps to do this in this earlier post.http://jeffbergoshblog.blogspot.com/2019/01/fixing-fire-service-budgeting-in.html

But now I want to take it a step further and mention some additional measures that I feel need to be taken to make the agency more efficient going forward.

--First, we have to cut the bureaucratic red tape that is currently creating an unnecessary blockage in the training pipeline (e.g. right now there is a backlog of at least 15 additional volunteer firefighters that only need a live-burn certification to be fully qualified to run calls.  I'm told some of these volunteers have been waiting for 5 months for this certification. Some have gone or are going to neighboring counties for this training because they cannot get through the bureaucracy here in Escambia--which if true is unacceptable.  One knowledgeable individual with whom I spoke had a stark assessment of the reason for the hold up "They can't afford to pay the stipends if all the

Fixing the Fire Service Budgeting in Escambia County

Is there a way to more intelligently budget for the fire service in Escambia County?  Answer--yes...

The budgeting for fire service in Escambia County is being discussed this week.

I met with the Fire Chief and Director of the Emergency Services yesterday afternoon.

Currently, we fund fire services with an MSBU that every dwelling in the county pays, it is $125 per unit in the unincorporated areas of the county.  And this generates the money necessary to pay the 300+  county firefighters (160 are volunteers) and pay expenses associated with the department's operations.

But this amount of money generated is not keeping up with costs.  So here is where the rubber meets the road in answering the following question:

How do we adequately fund this service while not simply raising tax rates on property owners?

I believe the answer requires a few initial steps and some creativity--but I believe we can do it.  Here's how:

1-----Have the fire service (and EMS) only utilize Local Option Sales Taxes going forward for equipment purchases (equipment that qualifies under the LOST referendum) to free up