I am new to Castlegate, just moved in a month ago.  I received an 'Invoice' from the Fire Department.  I'm a bit confused.  I thought our taxes took care of the Fire Department and I am not sure what this is for.  Contacted out HOA, but didn't receive a call back nor an answer to my email.  Can anyone explain if I should pay up?  Are they asking for a donation or is this manditory billing? Thanks!

First off, welcome to the neighborhood! What you are asking is a good question. We do not have a city fire department, like Mesa, Tempe, Phx ect. In those cities your taxes pay for that. We are in a rural area and Rural Metro provides our fire response. Unfortunately we have to pay a fee for their services. This fee will cover you for any emergency they have to respond to. If you do not pay it they will still respond to your emergency, but you will foot the entire bill. Depending on what that emergency is it could be hundreds or thousands out of your pocket. I would highly suggest you pay it and also contact your insurance company. Rural Metro is now closer and it could save you some money on your home owners insurance. I hope this helps you.

Yes I agree with Roughneck.  A few years back we had a Rural Metro rep come and speak to us and they said it was not uncommon for them to send out bills of over $80-$100,000  (no that's not a typo) for homes that did not pay the yearly fee and had a fire that they were called to respond to.  So where the $400+ bill (depending on size of your home, etc) is a bit steep per year it's better than an $80,000 bill or higher IMO.   They do allow you to pay yearly, bi-yearly, or quarterly, so if you need to take them up on that give them a call and they're more than happy to do that for you.

That's one of the downsides of living in unincorporated county land, we aren't really apart of a city when it comes to taxes, etc so we do not have city police, city fire, etc and have to subscribe to a private fire company (this would include ambulatory services as well I believe).

It is your choice you do NOT have to pay, however it's a good idea to.