Newberry’s fire assessment will increase from $200 to $300 in the 2025-26 fiscal year for the rate’s first increase in three years.
After much deliberation on how to proceed with the rate, the Newberry City Commission approved the 33% increase, 4-1, during a regular meeting on Monday, with Commissioner Monty Farnsworth in dissent.
With a packed city hall, Commissioner Rick Coleman suggested tabling the fire assessment in order to hold another workshop where citizens could speak more on the item. But the commission decided to move forward with a vote in the interest of needing to finalize the city’s budget by Oct. 1.
Although the fire assessment is still below the $419 maximum rate adopted by the commission and balances the Newberry Fire Department’s (NFD) $2.6 million spot in the city’s budget, City Manager Jordan Marlowe said it doesn’t account for growth in the future.
“We are not getting ready for tomorrow, we’re just taking care of today,” he said. “Tomorrow is coming, and we will have to deal with it.”
Marlowe said the $300 rate reflected three years of data from a recent fire assessment study. He said last year’s rate was based only on one year of data, skewed by one business that spiked the numbers.
The new study revealed that Newberry has more commercial businesses in town needing fire services and, even though the rate is still a substantial increase, Marlowe said the numbers show the natural growth of the city.
“The three-year study has brought significant increases down to still significant increases,” he said. “But instead of nine times more the cost, now we’re looking at something that’s three times the cost.”
Staff shared that in 2020, Newberry’s fire assessment was $175. The rate increased over the next few years to $190 and $195 before holding steady at $200 for the past three.
At one point, previous City Commissions had been advised to plan on $25 increases each year, but failed to incorporate them. Some citizens called on the commission to do so again, moving forward.
“What frustrates me the most isn’t the size of this jump, but this could’ve been avoided,” said former Newberry Commissioner Jason McGehee. “The rate hasn’t moved, and now we have to make significant jumps.”
According to a staff presentation, 54% of Newberry’s fire budget is funded by property taxes, 36% by the fire assessment fee, and 10% from the fire services agreement with Alachua County.
The agreement states that for every call the NFD answers in unincorporated Alachua County, the county pays $865 per call.
Commissioner Mark Clark asked how much it would cost to turn NFD over to the county.
Staff said rates would be higher on the county’s sliding scale for fire assessments with a residential house in Newberry costing $200,000 paying around $270, the average Newberry resident around $357 and a high value home at $400,000 costing around $450.
Newberry’s neighboring city of High Springs will determine next week whether it will keep its fire department or depend on Alachua County Fire Rescue services after the county proposed a $188,000 cut in aid to the city.
The cut is based on a few months of data from the new Fire Station 21 in Alachua, which is providing more coverage to that area of the county instead of depending on the High Springs Fire Department.
Marlowe said even though there aren’t any plans right now to build fire stations closer to Newberry that could cut its funding, like in High Springs, the conversation to do so could happen at any time.