§ 98-47. Definitions.

2.01 Benefit area or fire service municipal service benefit unit or benefit unit or MSBU means the unincorporated area of Brevard County, the Town of Grant-Valkaria, the Town of Melbourne Village, the Town of Palm Shores, and the City of West Melbourne.

2.02 Fire rescue means the fire department under the Brevard County Manager and the Brevard County Board of County Commissioners.

2.03 Fire chief means the Chief Officer/Director for Brevard County.

2.04 Property or real property means improved real property within the benefit area.

2.05 Special assessment or fire services special assessment or non-ad valorem assessment means the fire service non-ad valorem special assessment that may be used to pay for all and/or a portion of the cost to the county for providing fire service within the benefit area.

2.06 Base rate benefit factor or base rate factor means the multiplier (either 1.00, .58, .42, or .00) applied to fairly and reasonably apportion the fire service non-ad valorem special assessment among residential properties, other than those residential uses designated "multifamily" or "mobile home park (MHP)." The base rate benefit factor derives from each parcel's "base rate", which is a value maintained in the Brevard County Property Appraiser's database, and which represents the building cost per square foot which serves as the basis for the property appraiser's periodic appraisal of the value of the parcels within Brevard County. The base rate benefit factors , and the Use Codes to which they pertain, are set forth in section 98-41 6.02 herein.

2.07 Building area means the adjusted area of a building expressed in square feet and reflected on the tax roll or, in the event such information is not reflected or determined not to be accurately reflected on the tax roll, that area determined by the county. For residential parcels, building area refers to the "living area" field in the Brevard County Property Appraiser's database.

2.08 Building area classification ranges (Bins) means the classification of properties into ranges, or "Bins", based on building area square footage.

2.09 Hazard code means the hazard codes developed by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) for the fire service using research and historical data to determine the water flow needed for fire suppression. Hazard codes are based on the risk, occupancy and contents, associated with the use of the property. The hazard codes are .08 (light hazard), .13 (ordinary hazard, group 1), .18 (ordinary hazard, group 2) and .30 (extra hazard). A list of property Use Codes and corresponding Hazard Codes are attached hereto as Exhibit A [section 98-58].

2.10 Tax parcel means a parcel of property located within the benefit area to which the property appraiser has assigned a distinct ad valorem property tax identification number.

2.11 Use code means the property use code assigned by the property appraiser to tax parcels within the benefit area. A list of use codes is attached hereto as Exhibit A [section 98-58].

(Ord. No. 06-045, § 2, 8-8-06; Ord. No. 2007-044, § 1, 9-11-07; Ord. No. 2008-35, § 2, 9-9-08)