Do any of the monies collected for the EMS tax or the fire assessment go into the General Fund?
All assessments and ad valorem for fire and EMS services are placed in a separate fund for that function. Money from the General Fund is also placed in fire fund to cover the assessments that the Board of County Commissioners pays on the behalf of a property classification. This is commonly referred to as a buy down of a property classification. The fire fund pays to the general fund an allocation for use of common services such as information technology, human resources, legal, and audit. This fee is based upon an annual review of services used by fire rescue and the costs for that support.
