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As Florida legislators cut taxes, the Marco Island City Council may be looking to add an assessment to the tax bills residents receive this fall.

The Marco council gave approval this week for city staff to move forward with the steps necessary to create a fire assessment. The council will make a final decision on whether to add a fire assessment during budget hearings this summer.

The council vote was 6-1, with council member Ted Forcht dissenting.

This isn’t the first time a fire assessment has been discussed by City Council. However, it was the first time the three newest council members were able to give their direction on the idea.

“We’ve been working on this for about a year and a half. I think we need to continue to move forward,” council member Robert Popoff said.

Fire service now is paid for with property taxes.

Fire Chief Mike Murphy presented the council at its Monday night meeting with the pros and cons of various fire assessment options.

Since 91 percent of the Marco Island Fire Department’s budget is spent directly on providing fire service, that is the maximum allowable percentage of revenue that may come from an assessment. Murphy said the other nine percent is primarily used toward EMS, which is not allowed to be funded by assessments.

Murphy said the assessment would be fairer because these would be based on the usage of the service by various property types versus the value of a home and whether it has a homestead exemption.

All single-family homes would pay the same amount and commercial properties would pay based on the square footage of the structure.

Government Services Group Inc. conducted a study on Marco Island last year to determine the average usage of fire service by single-family owners, commercial properties, multi-family properties and other categories.

“Just like any policy change, there are some winners and some losers. If you recently purchased a home or have a home that isn’t homesteaded, you will benefit the most,” Murphy said.

He added that Marco Island residents currently are paying less on average than they were years ago when Marco first became a city.

Marco residents also are paying considerably less than residents who are charged higher property tax rates by the independent fire districts in the rest of Collier County.

Residents present for public comment Monday night voiced concerns about the ability of the city to charge everyone more if property taxes aren’t reduced when the assessment is added.

“You’ve heard from a master salesman,” said Fay Biles, president of the Marco Island Taxpayers Association after Murphy completed his report.

Biles suggested calling it what it is, “a new tax.”

Murphy assured those present at Monday night’s council meeting that the funding cap set in the city would remain.

Council member Wayne Waldack said he wasn’t in favor of raising taxes, but questioned whether a significant reduction in property taxes would allow the city to continue to operate essential services and would in fact be the best for residents.

“The state of Florida has been reducing ad valorem taxes ... The taxes that don’t affect the state of Florida’s budget one penny. They’re going with sales tax increases. I don’t think that’s fair,” Waldack said.

Council member Jerry Gibson suggested the council leave itself flexibility so that there are as many options as possible going into budget workshops.