One fire put out; others smolder

Lealman wins fire independence, but annexation threats mean victory may be short-lived.

By ANNE LINDBERG

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 7, 2000

LEALMAN -- Firefighters got what they wanted Monday when the governor signed a law making the fire district independent, but the victory is bittersweet. Lealman's future remains in doubt, this time from annexation threats.

"We're just in a constant battle," Lealman fire Chief Gary Wolff said Monday. "Eventually, we'll be eaten up.

For a few moments, though, Wolff celebrated.

The governor's approval means the district finally will be able to offer its firefighters and paramedics state-level retirement and long-term disability benefits.

They have not been eligible for those benefits because, until Monday, the Lealman Fire District was a not-for-profit corporation run by a publicly elected board. The corporation gets its money from the county, but the workers are not government employees and therefore are not entitled to those benefits. The district itself could not afford to pay for equivalent benefits.

When Lealman's lobbying effort began, it appeared the board would have to disband and merge with either the Pinellas Park or St. Petersburg fire departments.

But such a merger was both expensive and unpopular with firefighters and Lealman residents, who feared such a merger would ease the way to annexations by one of the cities.

Then Rep. Frank Farkas, R-St. Petersburg, sponsored a bill that would make the Lealman district an independent taxing entity. That's the law Bush signed Monday.

The Fire Board will be able to raise taxes by establishing a budget and setting the tax rate, or millage. The Fire Board also will be able to get state monies and state benefits for its employees.

Before any of that happens, Lealman voters must approve the change to having the Fire Board set the tax rate. That referendum probably will be held in the fall, Wolff said.

Until then, the Lealman district will get its money from the county, which gets its money from residents in the district. If voters reject the Fire Board as a taxing entity, Wolff said, "to be honest with you, we'd go under in a couple of years."

The district might go under anyway.

Seminole will hold a referendum next week that asks residents west of Park Street and north of the Tyrone area tobe annexed bySeminole. Much of that area is in the Lealman Fire District.

If those residents vote for annexation, the Lealman department would continue to provide fire service, but the fire tax money would go to Seminole. That would cut into Lealman's budget, Wolff said, and further burden other Lealman landowners to make up for the loss.

Any tax increase could make more attractive the prospect of annexation by Seminole, Kenneth City, Pinellas Park or St. Petersburg.

Eventually, Wolff said, with fewer Lealman residents unable to bear the tax load, the district could collapse under its own weight.

"With this annexation off and running the way it is. . . .The cities are hiring more and more people," Wolff said. "The little guys, us, are just going to get stepped on."

Which makes it hard to plan for the future, the chief said.

"We hold our breath," Wolff said.

Wolff said he worries most about his administrative staff. Firefighters and paramedics probably can find other jobs, he said, but the administrative staff could have a harder time.

"I've got a young staff" with families and children, he said.

Wolff and his firefighters are opposing the annexations. They've handed out fliers. They've had community cookouts to increase their public profile. And they're opening a new fire station on Park Street to improve service to people in the southwest Lealman area.

With any luck, Wolff said, Lealman will remain independent for a long time.

"This is so nice here," he said. "We're our own little entity."

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