Looks a little fishy...

After reading both local newspapers this morning, I am a little confused about the way Spring Hill Fire Rescue charges for their services. It states in the Hernando Times that the Spring Hill Fire Rescue is based on an MSBU. A MSBU, municipal service benefit unit, is based on a set fee which appears on the non-ad valorem portion of the property tax bill. Or is SPFR on a MSTU which is a municipal service taxing unit based on set millage rate which appears on the ad-valorem portion of the property tax bill? I was under the assumption that Spring Hill Fire Rescue was a MSTU. Which one is it? Was the newspaper incorrect or is the attorney for the clerk of court confused about the Spring Hill Fire Rescue District? Or is it just me?

Derrill McAteer, attorney for the Hernando County Clerk of Court, stated that he had been contacted by Jon Jouban, assistant county attorney, about a discovery that the MSBU for Spring Hill Fire Rescue District had been dissolved in "1993 or 1994". Which is it, 1993 or 1994? If this is an actual record from Karen Nicolai's office it would have a specific date on the document, wouldn't it? If it was a court document, it would also have a time the hearing took place included in the document. What day was it?

Garth Coller stated in the same article that the matter was still "deep in litigation" and would not get specific about how Mr. Jouban discovered the SPFR's dissolved status. Wouldn't these documents be matter of public records if they were discovered in the files the Clerk of Court since Karen Nicolai is the official "keeper" of all records for Hernando County? Why did it take Mr. Jouban so long to notify the Clerk of Court's attorney about the discovery he made earlier in the month?

Mr. McAteer stated in the newspaper that this situation about the Spring Hill Fire Rescue is very bizarre? Bizarre is an understatement with all these unanswered questions. Is it a MSBU or MSTU for Spring Hill Fire Rescue? What is the actual date of this "discovery" document? Is it a public record? If so, why did the assistant county attorney wait for weeks to reveal his "discovery" document? If this is an accurate record, then why wasn't it brought forward earlier by the Clerk of Court?

This really looks a little fishy, in light of the fact that Commissioner David Russell recently advocated dissolving the Spring Hill Fire Rescue District board by a proposed county ordinance he pushed to the table. Is this the beginning of the end of Spring Hill Fire Rescue District to implement a countywide fire service by the county commissioners?

The upcoming discussions by Hernando County County Commissioners, and their ability to provide adequate fire service for the public, looks like it will be a real "Whodunit" type of mystery... Too bad we can't read the last chapter first in this mystery to reveal the "top secret discovery documents" that supposedly dissolves the SPFR. Maybe then we would find out who is really driving this fire engine...