Fire Service Costs May Increase in Unincorporated Dunedin

Six areas of unincorporated Pinellas County may pay more for fire service next year, and unincorporated Dunedin could be the hardest hit, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

The county does not have its own fire department, so residents in unincorporated Pinellas receive fire service through 12 fire districts. The contracts provide fire service to about 17 percent of the county's 916,719 residents, according to the Times.

"Property owners in the unincorporated Dunedin area would see the largest increase — about 57.4 percent, from about $2.26 to about $3.55 per thousand dollars of assessed, taxable property value," the newspaper reports.

The increase is due in large part to a 0.5 percent decrease in property values and a proposed increase of about $153,000 in operating costs, according to County Administrator Bob LaSala.

Unincorporated Clearwater, Largo, Safety Harbor, South Pasadena and Tierra Verde could also see their fire tax rate increase next year, the Times reports, but none as much as unincorporated Dunedin.