According to the Fire Commissioners they have been dipping into their reserves and in less than two years they will officially be broke.
Fire Chief John Wayne said if they have to have layoffs or shut down, residents may be forced to pay higher insurance rates anyway.
Monday night the Fire Commissioners held a meeting to come up with a solution to ensure the future of the department without passing too much of the added costs over to residents.
It is one of two meetings that will–as many have described it–either set the stage for the department’s salvation or its eventual demise.
Fire Chief John Wayne says that financially the department has reached critical mass.
Wayne says it currently takes $14.7 million to operate fire and ambulance service a year.
The fire district is funded through property taxes– which only brings in $7.4 million per year.
With falling tax revenue and calls for service on the rise, the department is looking for a solution to a terrible situation.
Some opportunities that have saved jobs include federal grants. But with the uncertainty of these funds the district is looking for a more reliable source of income in the form of an assessment fee.
The idea is to replace the property tax funding source with this new assessment fee.
It was also found out that exempt property tax parcels such churches or not for profits may have to pay this new assessment fee also.
The fire board hired Government Services Group (GSG) out of Tallahassee to draw up the figures to show the assessment would break out–but the decision will ultimately be left to the voters.
For fair disclosure GSG is the same company that has been running the FGUA, Lehigh Acres Water and Sewer Company for years.
The fire chief says if the assessment fails it means about 60 layoffs and the end of ambulance service.
Voters will make the final decision in November of 2014.
The next Fire Commission meeting will on Tuesday, February 25, 2014 at East County Water Control District offices at 601 East County Lane, Lehigh Acres, Florida 33936.
The layoffs for these dead beats is the best news I’ve heard in a long time. I’m a lifelong Floridian and have seen better service from Volunteer services with response times and ambulance arrival. Like always with this bunch they hide out at Walmart, Sweetbay, Subway, Publix and blow red lights returning to their stations and playing around!!! Why is it the fire truck arrives always before the ambulance when its the ambulance in my case has always been requested and arrives about 20 minutes later!! Believe me you think you have the public fooled but we are all far from it!!! I pray they get rid of 60 of you bastards!!!
Now we are at the same point as 2 years before: The money is too short.
In my mind there are 2 reasons for this disaster:
1) The compensation for each firefighter is way too high. It’s more than $100.000 average including benefits.
2) The way of up and down floating property taxes is the wrong way to finance a stable service. That’s why I have proposed a fair assessment fee based on size and luxury of homes and lots. And that would be kept stable except for inflation adjustment.
But I doubt that the people of Lehigh will understand and follow this idea.
Your correct the citizens of lehigh see right through con artists like you!! Go back up north and don’t come back!! The fire dept is in the shape its in because the public is being milked dry because of the misuse of equipment and over staffing. We don’t need all of this staff here! The fire dept play’s around in the trucks going to the Circle-K, Publix, Walmart, Sweetbay, Subway with their lights and siren to make the public think they are responding to emergency’s.. When an ambulance is requested they send a fire truck and then you wait 20 minutes for the ambulance!! You at the fire dept think you have everyone fooled but you don’t you are the fool’s!! Get rid of as many of these clowns as we can people, Just open your eye’s see for yourselves whats happening with this bunch.. They respond to a call and 6 or 7 are standing around getting paid to do nothing. They send all of their equipment out to burn fuel for nothing but to appear they are that busy!!!!!! Wake up people and look at your tax money being wasted up most degree!!!!