The ACLU of Florida and the Southern Poverty Law Center is suing the City of Tallahassee over its fire services fee.
The fire services fee is about $20 month and is paid on Tallahassee and unincorporated Leon county resident's utility bills. It funds the city’s fire department and firefighter salaries. The county does not have its own fire department, so the city provides those services.
ACLU of Florida Attorney Nicholas Warren said the fee is illegal under the Florida constitution and is an unfair burden on low-income residents, including renters, students and seniors.
“The main way that local governments fund services, from policing to how low income housing and anything streets is through property taxes, again, which is a progressive tax that that is based on the value of real property and that's generally how local governments raise revenue, but assessing a $20 a month, essentially head tax on each household is very unfair, disproportionately burdens low income, working families, and it is not the legal way for the city to be funding its operations,” he said.
Florida’s 5th District Court of Appeal ruled Ocala's fire services fee was unconstitutional in 2020 because it was not voluntary. Warren says Tallahassee’s fee is like the one Ocala used to have.
“If you assert your rights and choose not to pay it, they'll cut off your water, cut off your power, send it to collections, put a lien on your house and whatnot,” he said.
The fire services fee has been at the center of contentious debates in recent months between the city and the county. WFSU has reached out to the City of Tallahassee for comment.