DeFuniak Springs fire assessment
A Better Solution for Fire Protection
A new $238 tax on every home. Every year. No matter what your home is worth.
Family budgets are stretched thin enough already. The City calls it a fire assessment, but it works like a tax: it lands on top of what you already pay, with no tax cut to offset it, and the City's own ten-year plan counts on it going up. The same fire protection costs $75.00 a year under a Walton County partnership.
The 30-second summary
The Basics
$238
New yearly tax for every single-family home
Charged the same whether your home is worth $30,000 or $500,000.
1 in 3
Homes: the new fire tax is bigger than everything they pay the City now
That's 771 homes. Their city bill more than doubles overnight.
$75
What Walton County residents pay for fire protection
Walton County's current rate. The City could join it through a partnership.
+45%
Increase in what the City collects from property owners
With no offsetting tax cut anywhere in the budget.
Interactive tools
What Will You Pay?
Get a quick estimate from your property's value, or search the City's assessment roll for your exact numbers.
Example: a $25,000 home
Pays about $140 in city taxes today. The new fire fee of $238.00 nearly triples that bill.
Turn on JavaScript to calculate your own property's numbers.
Look Up Your Exact Bill
Turn on JavaScript to search the assessment roll for your property, or use the calculator above to estimate your bill.
The real-world impact
Who Gets Hit Hardest
The less your home is worth, the harder this fee hits you.
It's a flat fee. Every house pays the same.
A $30,000 home pays the same $238 as a $500,000 house. Property taxes scale with what you own. This fee does not.
166 families go from $0 to $238.
166 homes in the city pay no city property tax at all today. Most are lower-value homes protected by homestead exemptions, protections created to shield people of modest means. This fee goes around them entirely.
For about 1 in 3 homeowners, the fee is bigger than their whole city tax bill.
771 homes pay less in city property taxes today than this one fee costs. Their city bill more than doubles overnight.
Renters get hit too.
Apartment properties would see their city costs more than double (+123%). Landlords don't absorb costs like that. They pass them on to tenants.
Same fee, very different impact
Homes with low assessed values are overwhelmingly owned by seniors on fixed incomes and working families. They have the least room in their budgets to absorb a sudden new bill.
It's not just homeowners
Businesses pay too
15¢ per square foot
Small businesses often run on thin margins. A large new assessment forces hard choices, including:
- Hiring fewer employees or cutting employee hours
- Delaying investments and raising prices
- Reducing community sponsorships
- In some cases, questioning whether they can stay open
When local businesses struggle, everyone feels it. Jobs are lost, families face more financial pressure, and our downtown economy becomes less vibrant.
Not a trade-off
No tax relief is coming
- A recent comparison of cities and counties across the Florida Panhandle found DeFuniak Springs already has the third-highest millage rate in the region.
- This assessment would raise what the City collects from property owners by roughly 45%, with no offsetting tax cut.
- The City already transfers nearly $3 million a year just to keep its general fund solvent, so a millage rollback isn't on the table.
- This fee is purely an added cost, not a trade.
The 10-year plan
$238 is the starting rate, not the price.
The adopted ceiling is $397 per home. The City starts at $238 and can raise it with a simple vote every year. Its 10-year plan borrows millions, with interest alone topping $5 million.
"At some point that cost may have to increase."Council member, rate-setting meeting, July 13, 2026
The alternative
There is a better option
Residents have been told that without this assessment, we risk losing our fire protection. That is not true. Nobody, on any side of this debate, is proposing to end fire protection. That has never been on the table. The only question is how we fund and staff it. The City has another option: partnering with Walton County Fire Rescue.
- Fire protection continues, with access to more firefighters
- More fire engines, equipment, and emergency response resources become available
- Our firefighters get a raise of at least 15%, and their insurance costs are cut in half. A raise on top of a raise
- Residents pay the county rate of $75 a year instead of $238
The City's own consultant reported that of 2,256 fire department calls in 2025, just 277, about 12%, were fire calls. 78% were medical. That's not a criticism of the department; it's the modern reality of fire service everywhere. But Florida courts have ruled that emergency medical response doesn't provide a 'special benefit' to property, which is why the consultant had to remove EMS costs from the fee's budget. The growing demand everyone points to is medical, the very thing this fire fee cannot legally fund, and the very thing Walton County Fire Rescue already handles at scale.
You may hear that the county's rate 'could go up to $150.' Here's the truth: $150 is a ceiling the county noticed years ago so it wouldn't have to re-mail every property owner if the rate ever changed. The actual rate has stayed $75 for roughly a decade, with no plan to raise it. Even that never-charged ceiling is $88 less than the City's $238 fee. And the City's own adopted ceiling is $397, with the rate reset every single year.
As our community grows, our fire department has to grow with it. Keeping a standalone department means adding staff, buying more trucks, and expanding facilities. All of that gets more expensive over time. A partnership with Walton County provides access to larger resources right away, while easing the financial burden on residents and businesses.
A larger department could also improve our Insurance Services Office (ISO) rating, which can affect homeowners insurance costs. Our current rating hasn't changed, and without major investment, keeping or improving it gets harder as the city grows.
City fee plan vs. county partnership
Cost per home, per year
City fee plan
$238.00
County partnership
$75.00
Firefighters & equipment
City fee plan
Current department only
County partnership
Access to county-wide firefighters, engines & equipment
ISO rating outlook
City fee plan
Unchanged; harder to improve without major new investment
County partnership
Potential to improve with a larger department
What our firefighters get
City fee plan
Current pay and benefits
County partnership
A raise of at least 15%, with insurance costs cut in half
Rate ceiling
City fee plan
$397 adopted ceiling, with the rate reset by resolution every year
County partnership
$150 noticed ceiling, never charged; actual rate $75 for roughly a decade
Take action
Make Your Voice Heard
Contact City Council
The fee has been adopted, but the City is still working out its budget. There is still time for the Council to change course. A short, polite message goes a long way: ask your council members to pursue the Walton County fire partnership before the fee reaches November tax bills.
Email all council membersAttend the Next Meeting
Showing up in person matters. Here's when the City Council meets next.
Monday, July 27, 2026
5:00 PM · City Council Regular Meeting
Regularly scheduled meeting. The agenda posts 48 hours ahead on the City's website. Check whether the fire assessment is on it.
Wednesday, July 29, 2026
4:00 PM · City Council Budget Workshop #5
Budget workshop. The fire assessment is part of the budget the Council is still working out, so this is a good place to speak up.
Monday, August 10, 2026
5:00 PM · City Council Regular Meeting
Regularly scheduled meeting. The agenda posts 48 hours ahead on the City's website. Check whether the fire assessment is on it.
Monday, August 24, 2026
5:00 PM · City Council Regular Meeting
Regularly scheduled meeting. The agenda posts 48 hours ahead on the City's website. Check whether the fire assessment is on it.
Monday, September 14, 2026
5:00 PM · City Council Regular Meeting
Regularly scheduled meeting. The agenda posts 48 hours ahead on the City's website. Check whether the fire assessment is on it.
Monday, September 28, 2026
5:00 PM · City Council Regular Meeting
Regularly scheduled meeting. The agenda posts 48 hours ahead on the City's website. Check whether the fire assessment is on it.