Fire Tax Formula
Commission candidate Sherri Quarrie has developed a simple formula that every resident in the Town of Melbourne Beach can use to learn what the financial impact to their household budget would be IF OUR FIRE SERVICES ARE TAKEN OVER BY BREVARD COUNTY. She believes that the current Commission is moving in the right direction by voting to approve three paid full-time firefighters in order to maintain our local fire department. Please Note: This calculation only reflects the MELBOURNE BEACH portion of your total tax bill.
CLICK HERE to use the FORMULA with your actual numbers to understand the impact that a County controlled fire service would have on your personal budget. You can go to Brevard County Tax online to get the current taxable value of your home or look on your recently mailed proposed tax bill.
Please Note: This calculation only reflects the MELBOURNE BEACH portion of your total tax bill.
Right now, our fire service is still a part of the total budget for the Town of Melbourne Beach. The Fire Chief asked for six paid firefighters in order to cover the station adequately. If the SAFER Grant is approved, we would have funds to cover the majority of the cost for the six firefighters for the first two years and a lesser portion in the third year. The caveat is, the grant is a reimbursement grant and will only pay for how many firefighters we have on payroll. The current commission voted to approve three paid full-time firefighters, plus the paid fire chief and keeping 24 volunteer firefighters in the 2026 budget. The total cost is approximately 18.97% of the entire budget.
Commission candidate Steve Walters stated during public comment, that he and candidate Larson were committed to repealing the current commission’s vote if elected. This is a big concern for every property owner in our town knowing that losing our fire protection to the County would cost every homeowner significantly more money. If Walters and Larson are elected, they could refuse to hire the three paid full-time firefighters, thus putting our town in a critical situation where we would be forced to relinquish fire services to Brevard County.
In any case, if the FIRE SERVICE for the Town of Melbourne Beach cannot withstand the skeleton crew of the three paid firefighters with the volunteers still being expected to tow the line to cover the call requirements, the department may fail after-all. If and when that happens, our fire services will revert to the county. NOW is the time to understand the consequences that this could have on our safety and your personal budget.
What can you do? At the very least, use the FORMULA to understand the impact that a County controlled fire service will have on your personal budget. Educate yourself and help your neighbors understand too.