CRESTVIEW — Fire Chief Joe Traylor envisions facilitating his department's long-range planning.
To fund it, he's re-introducing a fire assessment fee.
Traylor presented the proposal — which, if approved, would add a fee to monthly residential and commercial water bills — during the council's Monday evening workshop, to mixed reaction. He first introduced the idea during last year's budgeting process; it was defeated by the city council.
"I can't see burdening the residents of the city with an increase in fees — a fire assessment or whatever," Councilman Mickey Rytman said.
Council President Shannon Hayes said the fee would be an investment toward the fire department's future equipment needs. "We as a council have an obligation to look toward not only this year, but we have to look out for our citizens year after year after year," he said.
Councilman Bill Cox said he'd support the fee if it were coupled with reduced ad valorem taxes for property owners.
City Clerk Betsy Roy said when the previous council created the current city budget, it allowed little room for emergencies or replacing equipment. "Can we sustain what we're doing without more revenue? We can sustain, but we can't put money into reserves," Roy said. "We can't buy any equipment. Sustaining and maintaining are two different things from prospering."
"Nobody wants to be labeled as the guy who raised the taxes," Traylor said. "We've got growth going like crazy but we lowered the tax rate. We can't get there from here."
The fire department's plans include no wants, just needs, Traylor said. "There's nothing in there that is frivolous or extra fancy," he said. "We don't buy custom trucks."
Councilman JB Whitten said adding fees to the expense of opening a new business will make the city appear to be unfriendly to business. "If it looks like a tax and it works like a tax, it's a tax. That's what people are going to say. That's the perception," he said.
"It is what it is," Traylor said. "We have basically two options. We either take some action to fix the problems with our budgeting process, or we decide what you don't want us to do next year.
"I can park a fire truck when it breaks."
Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview fire assessment fee proposal resurfaces (VIDEO)