County approves roll back mill rate, plans to put extra funds into fire safety
"The millage rate applies to the amount of taxes that are collected on behalf of
Johnson said that the roll back rate is set only by additional growth in the county over the past year, and removes residents reassessments, essentially providing a small tax break for residents.
In turn, the funds will be applied to the fire services department's high ISO class rate of I, that ultimately lowers property taxes.
"This is, although somewhat small, a tax cut and although we are reaportioning that, and people may not see that on their bottom line we are putting that towards our ISO rating which will save them in their home insurance," said commissioner
The excess will be used to fund phase II of the improvement plan, which would ensure three firefighters per truck.
"It can be a very dangerous proposition when you have two firefighters showing up at a fire, one running the truck, and another one, obviously we don't let anyone go in a house by themselves," Johnson said.
And with the roll back rate now adopted by commissioners, phase II will be funded sooner than the projected three to five years.
"If we get those three men on those fire trucks, I think that's going to be a huge asset to us," said commissioner
Allen added that the county is rolling back its millage rate while other cities experiencing similar growth are continuously increasing rates across the board.
"In a time when
Johnson said that adopting the roll back millage rate is a sign of fiscal responsibility.
"I think we are showing that
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