Immokalee Fire Dept Seeking Share of Casino Taxes
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- Published on Wednesday, 05 June 2013 00:33
The new fire chief of the Immokalee Fire Control District has his eye on taxes paid by the Seminole Casino to help finance the fire department's operations, which include responding to calls in Ave Maria.
The fire department is facing the expiry of federal grants next May that have paid for six firefighters, and also needs to replace some aging equipment, Chief Paul Anderson told the Ave Maria Stewardship Community District at its montly meeting Tuesday morning.
Special taxes paid by casinos are intended to help defray costs of local governments, Chief Anderson said, adding that on average 55 percent of these taxes go for local government needs. All revenue from "casino taxes" on the Seminole Casino Immokalee -- about $314,000 last year -- went to the Collier County government with none of it staying in Immokalee, which he said is the only town in Florida which receives no money from taxes on casinos within the town boundaries.
"We intend to ask the Collier County Commissioners that 30 percent of these gaming taxes go to the Immokalee Fire District," Chief Anderson said.
He has been in touch with Collier County Commissioner Tim Nance, who the chief said is supportive of a hearing before the full board of county commissioners although he did not indicate a date for such an appearance.
Chief Anderson also said he is approaching the large number of non-profit organizations in Immokalee to see if they would be willing to contribute to the fire department as part of a "voluntary payment in lieu of taxes" plan.
In other developments at the AMSCD board meeting:
-- Board members approved hiring Jonathan Johnson of the firm Hopping Green & Sams as the district's new attorney. He replaces Ken van Assenderp, who retired earlier this year after serving as the district's attorney for its entire history. AMSCD Chairman Tom Peek said that he and district manager Todd Woddraska evaluated proposals from various firms and Hopping Green "was the most experienced with special districts, particularly those created by an act of the legislature as this one was."
-- A request to spend between 45,000 and $9,000 on awnings over a walkway at the temporary fire/EMS station was denied by a unanimous vote of the board.
-- David Genson of Barron Collier, the developer's respresentative to the board, said that Maple Ridge developer CC Devco has agreed to alter its proposed plans for the development to remove five houses planned to be built on Assisi Ave., on land that now is open space. Residents Tim and Susan Moore had appeared at the last meeting, noting that when they bought two properties overlooking that open space, they were assured there would be no houses built on it. Keeping the land as originally planned was "the right thing to do," Mr. Genson said.
-- Emerson Park resident Mary Mitchell asked that consideration be given to providing access for trucks to the northern part of the neighborhood, where there is significant construction activity, that would enable the trucks to not pass through residential areas. "We're concerned about the safety of the children," Mrs. Mitchell said. Barron Collier representatives said they would consider what might be done.