>>The problem is that then some people opt out. If enough people do that, it's no longer financially viable to have a fire service. Aside from the fact that si

>>The problem is that then some people opt out. If enough people do that, it's no longer financially viable to have a fire service. Aside from the fact that since most homes are covered by a mortgage and mortgage companies would require that as a condition of a loan, no where did I really say to make it optional. I simply said I wanted an itmized bill for the service I am required to have water service turned on as part of occupancy, I can not turn off the water service to home even if I wanted to live completely on bottled water, it would be against local ordinances. I am required to pay that bill monthly, if I turn it off I would get fined by the city, and at some point they would take my home I am also required to mow my grass, and other such things, I fail to see why fire services would be any different. >It's not all that different than living in an apartment with a few other people. You are correct on that front, I despise apartment living and I also despise HOA which is why I took great care to avoid both in my life. If star link or a competitor proves to be very successful and gets to be cost effective then Rural living may even be in the cards for me, one the only reasons I moved to where I did was because of the availability of high speed fiber optic service.