Rep. Matthew Caldwell has told members of the Lehigh Acres Fire and Rescue Board of Commissioners that he would take up their concerns for a bill that would help to fund what is a financially strapped fire agency due to the so called Great Recession.
At a meeting on Dec. 18, Caldwell was asked by the board to look into putting language in a bill to consider assessment fees for all of Lehigh Acres properties. Already landowners pay a tax bill based on the value of their property.
Due to the recession over the past years, revenues have dropped because area residents’ homes and properties have lost value and their taxes have gone down.
Caldwell said he may consider a bill that would provide funds for the fire department and the ambulance service since bills that cannot be collected from the public have to be written off, again losing needed revenue to operate the agency.
Caldwell will get back to the board after he has met with legislators, which will discuss the matter and make a decision of sponsoring such a bill that could also change Lehigh Acres fire coverage boundaries.
Although details were not mapped out, the bill could appear on the next ballot in 2014 asking Lehigh Acres landowners if they would support some sort of assessment.