Sunrise Beach Fire Looking At Sales Tax To Reduce Property Taxes In The District

The Sunrise Beach Fire District’s board of directors has passed a resolution to place a one-percent sales tax on the November 3rd ballot.

If passed, what’s being referred to as ‘Proposition Fire’ would roll back property taxes in the district by 50-percent of the amount collected by the sales tax starting in year-two of the collection.

That means, for example, if the district collects $100,000 in sales tax, then the property tax would be reduced district-wide by $50,000.

The sales tax would be imposed on any purchase within the fire district with the exceptions of grocery items exempt by statute, prescription medications, medical services and equipment exempt by statute, gasoline, diesel fuel and agricultural products that are exempt by statute.

Collections from the tax would go to replace aging equipment and apparatus, to build a new station house and to increase the number of full-time firefighters.

Three informational meetings on the proposed tax are scheduled for August 19th, September 23rd and October 28th starting at 6:00 each night at the district’s headquarters on Porter Mill Spring Road.