Osceola County commissioners Monday evening – after about two-and-a-half hours of discussion and public comment – decided pretty much to do the only thing they could do in the face of a public outcry: Agree to revisit the methodology used to calculate the proposed new fire fees set to go into effect Oct. 1, the start of the fiscal year.

In some cases, applying the new method would produce fees for some small businesses that would be 10 to 20 times higher than they paid this fiscal year. That clearly is a problem.

Small business owners at Monday’s meeting all said that the higher fees would force them to close, putting even more people out of work and out of homes. We have every reason to believe that is what would happen, given the current economy.

The proposed fees, which would be used to cover Fire Rescue’s operating budget (excluding ambulance service), are based on a combination of factors: a building’s square footage, the resources needed to fight a fire in a particular kind of building and the fire risk a particular use of a property presents.

More than a month ago, commissioners promised to look at the proposed fees and try to iron out some inconsistencies where large resorts, for example, would have to pay much less while restaurants, on the opposite end, would have to pay much more. However, no significant changes to the methodology were proposed.

In an effort to move forward, commissioners Monday did agree to reconvene a fire fee task force to revisit the methodology. That committee, which met eight times from November through February, is comprised of volunteers representing various interests, from ranching to developers. The commission also agreed to add five people to the task force, upping the small business and homeowner contingent.

We previously endorsed the new methodology but with the caveat that the anomalies in fees for certain kinds of businesses would be addressed. Since that didn’t happen and because we don’t believe any consensus would be reached on the new methodology no matter the amount of tweaking, we urge the task force and county to seriously consider keeping the current fee structure in place, but tweak it to remove any gross inconsistencies, which led to the county’s search for a new methodology in the first place.

In seeking a new fee structure, we believe commissioners wanted to make sure everyone was treated fairly. Sticking to the new fees, however, won’t help them reach that goal.