Mecklenburg County is working on a proposal to levy a new tax on residents living in unincorporated areas to help pay for fire service.
The county uses about $2.5 million from its general tax pool to help pay for fire service in areas not within Charlotte or surrounding town limits. About 117.5 square miles of the county, or 46,000 residents, are in the unincorporated areas. The county money is now used for grants to help support the budgets of 15 volunteer fire departments that serve the unincorporated areas. The departments also receive donations and some get money from towns.
A county proposal calls for creating five tax districts, with money raised by the levy to be used to contract with volunteer, city or town fire departments to cover the unincorporated areas.
While officials are still working to determine the final rates, estimates project that the taxes could range from 4.5 to 7 cents per $100 of assessed value. The tax would raise enough money to replace the county's contribution.
The county plans to hold a public hearing on the proposed tax in early April and could vote on the levy in June. If approved by commissioners, the fire taxes would go into effect July 1.
The proposed tax is meant to provide a long-term way to pay for fire service in the unincorporated area and to place a tax for the coverage on the residents who benefit from it, said Cary Saul, director of the county's Land Use and Environmental Services Agency.
Residents in those areas do not contribute to fire service in the incorporated areas. The proposed fire tax is similar to one already charged for police service in unincorporated areas. An effort to create the taxes in Mecklenburg failed in 2002, in part, because of conflicts over the amount of the new taxes.
A consultant recommended the fire districts again in 2008 as part of a way to support volunteer departments, which have dealt with shrinking firefighter ranks and smaller revenues.
The proposed taxes are based on how much it will cost to pay for the fire service next year, and current estimates of property values in the unincorporated areas.
Commissioner Karen Bentley, whose district includes the three northern towns, said there has been a lot of collaboration between county, town and other officials about the proposal. Still, she said, she's heard concerns from leaders in Cornelius that the proposed tax wouldn't raise enough money to replace the fire grant they receive from the county. Bentley said she'd like to talk more with officials.
Vice Chair Jim Pendergraph, who lives in an unincorporated area, said he also has heard reservations about the fire tax from a town mayor and thinks leaders still have more number-crunching to do before they iron out the proposal. Pendergraph said he wants to hear from the public before he decides.
Copyright 2012 - The Charlotte Observer, N.C.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
