City Council opposes bill proposing consolidation of county fire districts
Cape Coral City Council members unanimously agreed at Monday’s meeting to oppose Florida House Rep. Matt Caldwell’s proposed bill to consolidate 15 fire districts in Lee County, including the Cape Coral Fire Department.
“We would lose home rule as part of a larger county fire district,” said City Manager John Szerlag. “We would lose control of our own destiny. Our level of service would go down and our costs would go up.”
Staff research on the proposal indicates the measure will cost the city $2 million each year in firefighter pension contributions and more than $25 million in taxpayer funds for capital assets. The city would have to transfer $11 million in fire station land and capital assets to the new district.
“Our insurance rates would go through the roof,” said Council-member Jim Burch. “Response times would go up if we had to cross the river. I think consolidation is good for the small districts, but I agree that Cape Coral should be carved out.”
Szerlag said that the city would be the biggest contributor to the new fire district, essentially a donor city for unincorporated service areas.
The city also would lose its Fire Services Assessment authority that would necessitate a higher property tax millage rate to make up the difference.
The way the bill is worded, Fire Chief Donald Cochran said the city would risk having no representation on the county fire district board by the year 2020.
“We would give up our oversight ability,” said Cochran. “All of the top 10 cities in Florida have their own fire department. Control is important to them. This council has committed to adding two new fire stations over the next three to four years to prevent degradation of our level of service. They want that control.”
Councilmember Rick Williams called the bill “a slap in the face of home rule.”
Councilmember Marilyn Stout added, “Why fix something when it is not broken? We need to continue to control our fire service. I am surprised that Caldwell included incorporated cities in the bill.”
Szerlag told council he thinks consolidation is a good idea for smaller fire districts, but incorporated cities like Cape Coral and Fort Myers should be carved out of the bill’s county plan.