Proposed Fire Special Assessment to fund fire operations
Summary
The city hired Cypress Revenue Solutions for $74,200 to design a legally defensible fire assessment — a new way to fund fire services that shifts some cost to property owners via a special assessment.
At a glance
- Total mentions
- 4
- Last 30 days
- 0
Discussed at 1 meeting in the last 60 days; most recently Sep 17, 2026.
Impact analysis
$74,200 now; a future fire assessment fee on property owners is the likely end product by spring 2027.
The city's general fund gains a dedicated fire funding stream if implemented.
Property owners would pay a new fire assessment fee if the program is later implemented.
Mentions & discussions (4)
CITY COMMISSION (Special) - Sep 17, 2026
The plan drops minimum shift staffing from 15 to 12, ends overtime call-backs, and could brown out Truck 62. Engine 60 loses paramedic capability, and response times could nearly double on concurrent calls — possibly raising homeowners' insurance via the ISO rating.
CITY COMMISSION (Regular) - Sep 17, 2026
The city hired Cypress Revenue Solutions for $74,200 to design a legally defensible fire assessment — a new way to fund fire services that shifts some cost to property owners via a special assessment.
CITY COMMISSION (Regular) - Jul 9, 2026
The city took its first formal step toward a fire assessment, a fee that would shift fire operations costs off property taxes. The November referendum could remove roughly half the general fund, and the study costs $75,000–$100,000 — but the amount of any eventual assessment would be entirely up to the Commission after public hearings.
CITY COMMISSION (Special) - May 19, 2026
Dunedin is exploring a fire assessment to create a dedicated funding stream for fire department operations, insulating fire services from state property tax cuts that could cost the city about $9 million. Homestead exemptions wouldn't apply, so every property would pay something — a major fairness shift, but a hard sell for fixed-income homeowners.
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