Weekly comments from Dale Martin

Dale Martin

August 31, 2018 12:00 p.m.

The recent conversations regarding conservation have brought a longstanding issue back into consideration: the delineation of City boundaries.

Fernandina Beach and Amelia Island are not jurisdictionally synonymous. The official city limits are haphazardly configured on the northern half of Amelia Island. The southern portion of the Island, without fail, is entirely outside of the city limits. If you live south of the Harris Teeter location, you are part of unincorporated Nassau County, not Fernandina Beach (no matter that your mailing address states Fernandina Beach). Similarly, if you live off the Island, you are most assuredly not within the city limits since those limits do not extend across the Amelia River.

Other notable areas that are not within the city limits are many locations off of Will Hardee Road, specifically between Safe Harbor Lane and Simmons Road. In conjunction with most neighborhoods located off of 14th Street south of Sadler Road, a wide swath of property is carved out of the city limits from Will Hardee Road west to 8th Street and beyond to the Amelia River.

Another area with irregular boundaries is along Citrona Drive. Between Lime Street and Sadler Road, all neighborhoods to the east of Citrona Drive are outside the city limits. The west side of that same area, with the primary exception of the Amelia Park neighborhood, also lies outside of the city limits.

So why does that otherwise invisible line matter, some people ask. We’re all part of the same small island and wonderful community. The issue, as it often is, relates to money: those property owners outside of the city limits have no financial commitment to the governance, operations, services, and programs provided by the City.

They pay no city taxes to support the City. They have no vote for City Commissioners. It is sometimes befuddling as to how many unincorporated residents contend that “we need to do this” or “we shouldn’t do that” with regard to City government and operations. The responsibility and burden of those decisions sits with taxpaying City residents.

The additional significance of the city boundaries are the provisions of city services. This community, by far, is the most generous community in which I have served. The City of Fernandina Beach provides free public safety services to properties outside of the city limits. Those services consume approximately fifty percent of the entire General Fund budget of the City.

If you live in one of the areas outside of the city limits described above and you need public safety assistance, in most cases, it will be a City patrol officer, firefighter, or paramedic that reaches you first. It is that level of response that is inherent to the enhanced services provided by city government, paid for by city taxes. It is nonetheless essential that the services of City and County public safety support each other.

If a non-city property owner is receiving one of the primary benefits of city residency (police and fire protection) at no cost, why should that owner consider annexing into the city and then pay taxes to get a benefit already received?

According to monthly reports, the City Police Department responded to twenty-three calls for service outside the city limits last month. The Fire Department responded to forty-four incidents outside the city limits last month. Free service provided by city tax dollars. And as with pretty much everything, the costs of those services to city residents will continue to rise.

How does the city address this disparity? Over the course of the past few years, as properties outside the city limits desired water and sewer service, the City began to require voluntary annexation agreements: you want city water and sewer, you need to join the city. Prior to the implementation of that policy, water and sewer services were simply provided as desired (and, as remains the case, a surcharge on usage fees is imposed). A surcharge is also imposed upon non-city users of Parks and Recreation services.

The City Commission has a growing awareness of the cost of these services outside of the city limits. It will be a challenge to address how to resolve the issue, but the burden upon city residents to provide expensive services at no cost to others requires consideration. For now, though, city residents will graciously continue to provide free services.