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Commissioner Hovis - Emergency Management/Fire Services - Resolution Calling a Public Hearing to Consider the Establishment of a Unified Fire Protection Service Tax District for all Unincorporated Areas of Gaston County and a Rate Cap
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STAFF CONTACT
Kevin Gordon - Emergency Management and Fire Services - 704-862-6240
BUDGET IMPACTbudget
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BUDGET ORDINANCE IMPACT
BACKGROUND
As Gaston County grows and the cost of providing fire and rescue services increases into the future, the Board of Commissioners will consider making modifications to the current funding structure of the fire protection delivery system. Instead of the current eighteen (18) separate fire protection service districts and two (2) separate rural fire tax districts, the Board of Commissioners will consider establishing a single, unified fire protection service district for the unincorporated areas of Gaston County to provide essential funding.
North Carolina General Statutes outline specific provisions for modifying and creating fire protection service districts. Part of those provisions enables the Board of Commissioners to adopt a resolution within ninety (90) days of holding a public hearing and prior to the first publication of notice that property taxes within a potential new fire protection service district will not exceed fifteen cents ($0.15) on each one hundred dollars ($100) of property subject to taxation. The $0.15 cap is the same cap in place for the current, separate service districts and rural fire tax districts operating in Gaston County.
POLICY IMPACT
ATTACHMENTS
Resolution