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Suncoast fire district may seek help from Legislature

The district wants to alter its charter so it can tax property owners in the same way that other fire services do.

By SHEILA MULLANE ESTRADA
Published August 24, 2005

INDIAN ROCKS BEACH - Amid fears that they are little more than a year away from bankruptcy, the Pinellas Suncoast Fire and Rescue District may turn to the state Legislature for help.

The district board of commissioners voted unanimously last week to look into asking the Legislature to change the fire district charter to allow a more flexible way to tax homeowners and businesses in its district.

If that happens, it could mean that present flat fire service rates on more than 11,000 dwellings could switch to a tax-based system, either on property values or building size.

Presently, the fire district's charter requires voter approval any time fire service fees are raised. Two years ago voters went along with raising rates to $190 a year per home, but last year soundly defeated another referendum that would have changed the way fees were calculated.

That last referendum was actively opposed by the town and city commissions in Belleair Beach, Belleair Shore and Indian Rocks Beach. The district also includes Indian Shores and a large area on the mainland south of Walsingham Road.

"After all we've been through, I don't have a lot of confidence in how the mayors or the people would support anything," said commission Chairman Tom Hafner during last week's fire board debate over seeking legislative help.

Fire Commissioner John Todia urged the commission to bypass voters and go straight to the Legislature, which originally created the fire district and is the only body that can change its charter.

Todia cited a study done by Indian Shores Commissioner Bill Smith that showed if the annual fire fee of $120 in 1992 had been increased just by the annual cost of living, it would stand at $217 today.

That steady increase would have raised nearly $500,000 in additional annual revenue this year alone, he said.

Todia argued that a new rate structure automatically allowing gradual increases would allow the district to meet its expenses and build a sufficient reserve to cover equipment purchases and emergency operating expenses.

And, if approved by the Legislature, the district would no longer have to seek voter approval in a districtwide referendum.

The fire board has not yet decided what new rate structure it would seek in the charter but indicated it most likely would be a property tax. Other options include a flat rate with a built-in cost of living adjustment, or a rate based on a building's size, the proposal rejected by voters last year.

"The legislative delegation knows that every other fire service in the county is supported by ad valorem (property) taxes," Commissioner Bob McEwen said. "I'm not going to any mayors and say, "Please help us.' "

Hafner said changing the fire district's charter would be "a good thing," and stressed that to get the support of the county's legislative delegation will require mustering support in the community. "You know damn well that the county is going to go up there (to the delegation) and say they don't want this."

Pinellas County has joined with representatives of the towns served by the district on a special "Oversight Committee" investigating the fire district's finances and operations. The county and the towns are sharing the cost of an outside consultant.

"This is a scurrilous committee that doesn't have any authority," Hafner said. "We made a mistake trusting these people and all it did was cause us grief. Two of the people in this group are suing us."

The group was formed amid sharp criticism of the district's operations, particularly regarding the cost of EMS services provided to nondistrict beach communities (Redington Shores, North Redington Beach and Redington Beach) under a county contract.

The fire board's attorney, Jeff Albinson, strongly urged the commissioners to hire a lobbying firm to help select a taxing plan that would meet the district's needs and have a decent chance of approval in the Legislature.

"The reason this district exists is there are various communities that have their own interests. The district is meant to be a confluence of these points of view and somehow you're supposed to meld those interests," he said.

Prentice Dort, the district's tax assessor warned the commission that even if the Legislature agrees to change the district's charter, it will take considerable time for tax revenues to appear.

"You have to have your (financial) ducks in a row to last at least 21/2 more years," Dort said, explaining that it would take that long before any new tax revenues would flow into district coffers.

Fire officials estimate that the district will operate in the red by sometime in the 2006-07 fiscal year.

[Last modified August 24, 2005, 01:15:20]