Fire Department needs help
To the editor:
Pine Islanders are, for good reasons, sick of governmental authorities — federal, state and local. But don’t let that attitude carry over to our own Fire Department, which needs our help.
The Matlacha/Pine Island Fire Control District is a tough district to manage. It’s huge enough to require four stations to maintain the standard of a fire station every five miles, but we only have three. The district also consists mainly of rural and modest housing that produces little in the way of ad valorem tax revenues or impact fees to pay for those stations. Other districts such as Fort Myers Beach and Estero require only one station for their entire district, and have a rich tax revenue base to pay for it. Yet, in the wisdom of the state Legislature, those things didn’t count when they sat up the regulatory structure for fire departments.
For FY2012 through FY-2014, district general fund expenditures were in excess of general fund revenues, mainly because of the decrease in taxable values of real property. FY-2015 saw a 3.6 percent increase in taxable value, but that was too late and too little ($132,260) to help much. Three firefighters were laid off, and the remaining Firefighters Union members accepted pay/benefit reductions that will save an estimated $340,000. Nonetheless, the financial condition continues to deteriorate, as does the aging fire engines and brush trucks (average 17 years old). Florida requires a 17 percent unassigned fund balance to cover emergencies such as another hurricane – this district does not have it, and will not have it without a millage increase. I support the millage increase, and for the safety of us all-so should you.
Phil Buchanan
Pine Island