Ever wonder about that line on your tax bill labeled “Fire Tax”? Here’s what those percentages and figures really mean.

County Fire Tax Districts

          The county board of commissioners has the responsibility to provide fire protection for the entire county. They accomplish this by dividing the county into districts, each with its own fire department. In order to fund each fire department, a fire tax is collected within each district. The county collects the tax and charges a very small percentage for collection, and the rest is used for fire protection in the area it was collected. The commissioners are also required to approve each fire department’s tax rate, usually expressed as “cents per hundred”. The current tax rate for the West Stanly fire district is .08 / $100. What that means is for each $100 of property value, the property owner pays 8 cents per year. Example – property with a tax value of $100,000.00 would cost $80.00 per year in fire tax.