The Leon County Commission is looking into a charter amendment that could give it more oversight of Tallahassee’s utilities. The commission is also considering a change in how the city’s fire service fees are paid.
These proposals come as some of the county commissioners have been upset with the city for raising the fire services fee by about $5 a month on average. Tallahassee is using the increase to pay for 26 new firefighters, a new fire station, and other operational costs.
County Commissioner Christian Caban said it’s unfair to county residents who don’t live in the city limits that they don’t get a say over city decisions about utility charges like the fire services fee.
“If they are billing our unincorporated residents the county commission, County Commissioners deserve to have a seat at the table. Otherwise, in my opinion, it's taxation without representation,” he said.
The commission Tuesday tasked its upcoming Citizen Charter Review board to consider creating a utility authority with county commission representation. That charter change would need to be discussed and approved by the citizen commission, then approved for the ballot by county commissioners, then go to residents for a vote. What its structure would be, whether it's allowed under Florida law, and other specifics are unclear for now.
County Commissioners also want to change how the fire service fee is paid. Currently, people who use Tallahassee utilities, but live outside the city limits, see that fee on their monthly utility bill. County residents who aren’t connected to the city’s utilities get charged on their property tax bill quarterly.
Caban said that’s unfair to tenants in rental properties. And he points to legal challenges in other Florida counties that have similar policies.
“It's a benefit to the property owner. So, it is not fair, in my opinion, just for it to be billed through the utility. Also, it's wrong if you don't pay your fire services fee for your utility bill to be shut off. There are more protections in place through state policy and state legislation to protect property owners if it's built through your property tax,” he said.
While commissioners agreed to a public hearing on the issue, some, like Nick Maddox, weren’t sure whether they would support the change when it comes back to the commission.
“I'm willing to go with the public hearing because, I mean, I want to give you some time for staff to bring it back, and let's look at the idea. But I'm not, I'm not totally sold on changing it,” he said.
That charter review commission will meet for the first time in October. The hearing about the ordinance change is set for September.