Dunedin City Commission Special Meeting: Discussion on Fire Assessment Implementation - May 19, 2026
Dunedin City Commission Special Meeting: Discussion on Fire Assessment Implementation - May 19, 2026
The City Commission held a special meeting on May 19, 2026, at 6:00 PM to discuss the potential implementation of a Fire Assessment to fund Fire Department operations. City Manager Jennifer Bramley emphasized there was no sense of urgency; the special meeting was called to accommodate the schedule of Attorney Christopher Roe of Bryant Miller Olive, a specialist in assessments. The discussion was informational, with no decisions requested. The meeting adjourned at 7:27 PM.
Discussion Items
- Staff Presentation: City Manager Bramley noted that due to property tax reform bills in Tallahassee potentially reducing ad valorem taxes by approximately $9 million for Dunedin, the City is exploring alternative revenue sources. A Fire Special Assessment is one such option.
- Attorney Roe's Overview: Attorney Roe presented a 12-slide overview explaining special assessments, legal requirements (special benefit to property, fair apportionment, due process), differences from property taxes, common methodologies (demand-based vs. availability/readiness-to-serve), exemptions (churches/nonprofits discretionary, government property mandatory), and collection methods (direct bill or tax bill). He emphasized that fire services convey a special benefit to property, including increased market value and reduced insurance premiums. He noted that approximately 100 out of 470 Florida cities and about a third of counties have a fire assessment.
- Commission Questions: Commissioners inquired about staffing needs (no additional staff, methodology consultant handles most work), legal limits (none), benefit to property, frequency of abandoned efforts (e.g., Brooksville five times, Bradford County four times), EMS exclusion (ALS not assessable), tax bill collection requirements, off-ramps in the process, and potential impact on seniors and property owners.
- City Manager's Timeline: City Manager Bramley outlined a timeline: developing an RFP for a methodology consultant (awaiting Commission direction), consultant work lasting 12-14 months, with multiple touch points for the Commission. The earliest tax bill collection could be November 2027. Off-ramps exist before spending money on the consultant.
- Public Input: Mayor Freaney opened and closed public input; no one from the audience wished to speak.
Key Outcomes
- Consensus Direction: The Commission unanimously expressed support for moving forward with the next steps. Vice Mayor Walker noted the assessment could provide budget flexibility. Commissioner Sandbergen emphasized fairness and monitoring impacts on citizens. Commissioner Gow supported proceeding slowly with public involvement. Commissioner Dugard highlighted fairness, noting that 40% of Dunedin's residential properties pay no property taxes (Finance Director Les Tyler confirmed approximately 40% of residential properties have assessed values under $50,000 and pay no property tax). Mayor Freaney stressed controlling the City's destiny and equitable funding.
- Next Steps: City staff will complete the RFP for a methodology consultant and a Communications Plan (including public town hall meetings). The RFP and plan will be brought back to the Commission for approval, possibly in June at a special meeting or workshop.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening. Even though it says good morning. Good evening and welcome to the May 19, 2026 City Commission special meeting. I'm going to call this meeting to order. And we'll start with Jen um doing a Pledge of Allegiance, our City Attorney. I pledge allegiance to the fly in the United States of America. One under God, indivisible, liberty and justice. Okay. First we'll do citizen input. And that is uh does anyone in the audience wish to speak on a topic that is not on the agenda? So it'd be your time to come forward. Deputy Renee, anything you want to say? Yeah. Okay. I will close public hearing and we will move to new business, which we just have the one item. Uh although very important item, discussion regarding implementation of a fire assessment. And I will turn that over for uh staff presentation, but starting with City Manager Jennifer Bramley. Yes, good evening. Thank you, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Commissioners. So this is a special meeting of the City Commission, and and I want to be very clear that uh there is not a sense of urgency. What that's not the reason why we called a special meeting. It's a special meeting of the City Commission because this is the only time we could get all five of you together with our attorney and Mr. Rowe, our attorney from BMO, uh, who is uh specialist, if you will, in assessments. Um so we had to call the special meeting. So I want to be very clear uh that that's the reason why we're having this particular special meeting. So this is why I'm not listening to baseball tonight. Yes, Tryon and Blue Jason. Yes. Yes. Sorry about that. It's all good. So as a result of property tax reform, uh, and in order to address uh structural budget deficits, staff is exploring other avenues, other sources of revenue. As you know, there are several bills in Tallahassee that encompass varying degrees of advilum tax reductions. The current bill, which has passed the House, but not the Senate, would equate to about a nine million dollar reduction in advilarm taxes for the City of Dunedin. Uh should one of these bills pass, we need to be in a position to reduce services as well as identify alternative revenue sources as well. This evening we'll introduce one of those revenue streams, and that is a fire special assessment to fund fire department operations. No decisions are going to be made this evening. We're not asking you to make any decisions regarding implementation of a fire assessment. We've asked Chris Rowe from Bryant Miller Olive to explain what a fire assessment is and how it works. And as I said, uh Mr. Rowe is a very experienced attorney. Uh he is uh has a great deal of uh background in special assessments throughout the state. He's very well known for his knowledge, and he's all he was also our attorney representing us for the uh franchise agreement for Duke as well. So he's well known to us, and uh so we asked him to come here this evening to present to you. Uh this is the first time that the City Commission is receiving this information, and this is the first time that you will have a chance to ask questions regarding an assessment and uh to discuss it amongst yourselves as well. Uh and mayor, I am going to turn this over now to uh Mr. Rowe. And when he's done, and after you've asked your questions and had your discussion, maybe we can discuss next steps and what we're looking for out of this evening. Thank you, Mayor. Great.
openpublica.com