PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WMBB) – On Tuesday, Panama City commissioners passed a motion to reduce the fire assessment tax by 5%. The reduction comes as Mayor Michael Rohan motioned to repeal the assessment at Tuesday’s commission meeting. “I think we’re spending too much money and that’s what I campaign on,” said Rohan. After Rohan’s motion, […]
PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WMBB) – On Tuesday, Panama City commissioners passed a motion to reduce the fire assessment tax by 5%.
The reduction comes as Mayor Michael Rohan motioned to repeal the assessment at Tuesday’s commission meeting.
“I think we’re spending too much money and that’s what I campaign on,” said Rohan.
After Rohan’s motion, multiple commissioners argued that an immediate repeal without proper planning would do more harm than good.
“If we go in now with an axe rather than a scalpel, we’re going to do more damage to the city than we would if we were to try to wean off of this or figure this out in a very wise manner,” said Ward 3 Commissioner Brian Granger.
Last year, the commissioner voted to increase the assessment by 7 cents, costing homeowners $1.59 per every thousand dollars in property value.
Commissioners argue the reduction will provide more time to work out a permanent repeal.
“What we also did is we gave action to the staff to come up with a plan on revoking the entire tax altogether,” said Ward 4 Commissioner Josh Street.
Commissioners plan to further discuss the assessment at the Fiscal Year 2024 Budget Workshop on July 20th.
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