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Dade City, not Pasco County, will replace the San Antonio Volunteer Fire Department in Saint Leo. Also, the county may see a fire protection tax increase.
By CHASE SQUIRES
© St. Petersburg Times, published March 14, 2001
SAINT LEO -- Town commissioners Monday took a different path to fire protection than neighboring San Antonio, replacing the defunct San Antonio Volunteer Fire Department with fire service from Dade City instead of Pasco County.
Meanwhile, as the county planned to take over the 71-square-mile unincorporated part of the former San Antonio volunteer district, Assistant County Administrator Dan Johnson warned of a looming fire protection tax increase.
County Fire Chief Tony Lapinto said Tuesday the county may not make the old San Antonio fire station -- where the county is preparing to take over -- its permanent home for the region.
Saint Leo's decision to contract with Dade City brings a flood of fire protection to the twin cities, with Pasco firefighters and trucks at the San Antonio station and Dade City crews and a truck at the Saint Leo Town Hall, a mile down the road.
Saint Leo Commissioner Richard Christmas estimated his town's deal with Dade City will save about $5,000 a year over the county offer. Dade City Fire Chief Bob Cabot said his department would be unlikely to raise rates in coming years.
Cabot said his city would station a truck and two firefighters at Saint Leo's Town Hall after converting part of the building to sleeping quarters and a day room.
For the service, Dade City will charge one mill, $1 for every $1,000 in taxable property value. That comes to about $13,428 a year for the entire town and would be paid out of the town budget, Christmas said.
Pasco County Assistant Administrator Doug Johnson said the county would have provided service from the San Antonio fire station for about 1.4 mills this year, the same offer San Antonio commissioners accepted in principle last week.
Johnson warned every county fire district across Pasco County should expect a fire tax increase in the coming year.
As Saint Leo commissioners opened their meeting Monday, Commissioner Donna DeWitt reported the findings of an ad-hoc committee that studied the San Antonio volunteer department. The town, she said, needed an alternative. She echoed other committee members when she said Fire Chief Troy Newton was a big part of the problem at a department that had terrible bookkeeping.
"We tried very hard to save the volunteer fire department, but I'm sad to say that because of Troy Newton, the volunteer fire department has died," she said. "The volunteer fire department is dead."
Newton recommended Saint Leo and San Antonio find alternative sources of fire protection. He said the problem was changing times and a lack of volunteerism.
Saint Leo commissioners heard from Johnson and Cabot before deciding Dade City's offer suited the town better. Dade City covers two county fire tax districts that extend all the way to Saint Leo's boundaries, including the Lake Jovita subdivision.
Saint Leo commissioners were wondering what will happen to the $11,500 contribution they made last fall -- at Newton's urging -- to buy a new brush truck for the volunteer department. As San Antonio volunteers merge with the county as an auxiliary arm, the truck will stay with them, Johnson said. But by opting to go with Dade City, Saint Leo will not be served by the truck it helped buy.
By the end of Monday's meeting, both San Antonio and Saint Leo had completed their first steps toward new fire service, and while Newton said his department would operate until May 20, the county and Dade City immediately made arrangements to start providing service to their new districts.
Neither city has signed contracts with their providers, and San Antonio Mayor Roy Pierce said he wants to negotiate a clause that ties the county to using the fire station in his downtown for several years.
Johnson said it could take a couple months to complete the transition to incorporate the old volunteer district into the fold, but the county would provide full service in the interim.
Cabot said Dade City considered Saint Leo under its protection effective immediately.