Fire board sets millage through adversity
The Fort Myers Beach Board of Fire Commissioners adopted tentative millage rate and budget resolutions for the 2010-11 fiscal year and set a date for its final budget meeting at its first public budget hearing at Station #31 on Tuesday, Sept. 7. There was much public outcry and questioning during the process.
The five fire commissioners collectively agreed on a proposed millage rate of 2.665 mils by a 3-2 count for its upcoming fiscal year budget of $14,354,891, and will meet at 5:05 p.m. Monday, Sept. 20, for its final hearing. Chairperson Carol Morris and vice chair Joe Schmid were the dissenters, believing the millage rate should be at or lower than last year’s rate. The other three commissioners did not question the budget.
“The onus should be off the taxpayers,” said Schmid, who proposed a reduction in fire fighter wages by one percent.
“We should keep the services and drastically reduce spending,” said Morris.
During public input, at least 10 Beach residents spoke in opposition to the fire board’s requested millage rate. The current millage rate which was set for the 2009-10 fiscal year (which ends on Oct. 1, 2010) is 2.3017 mils.
Much of the rallying cry centered on cutting expenses from FMB Fire Chief Mike Becker’s budget. Public suggestions such as reducing fire fighter overtime, not paying for extra fire training, cutting staff or implementing on-call staffing during off-season months, closing a station, closing the administrative building and reducing active and retired fire fighter benefits were echoed by the angry residents.
One of the commissioners pointed out the collective bargaining agreement between the district and unions, which are both in the process of negotiation a new contract, limits much of the actions suggested. The unions are the rank-and-file unit and supervisory unit. Becker agreed and said the current three-year agreement was ratified in 2007 and re-negotiations for the CBA are ongoing.
“We’ve been negotiating since early July, and we will continue negotiations until we reach a new agreement or either party declares impasse,” said Becker. “On Sept. 30, the current agreement does expire, but the law says that status quo has to apply until a new agreement is reached. Since it looks like we will not have a new agreement by the end of September, the budget will reflect the status quo. Once we reach a new agreement, then we can do a budget amendment and adapt for whatever excessive funds we are generating.
“As far as the public input comments, a lot of the issues are being addressed and will be addressed (during union negotiations). Seventy-eight percent of the budget is tied up in wages of personnel, which not atypical of fire departments. We need to be very strategical so that we have a good agreement which will be accepted by the community as well as the fire fighters to have a delicate balance between the demand and cost of service we provide.”
The local fire chief recognizes there needs to be a change, but he is looking for the right change.
“I don’t want to get into a reaction mode and make the wrong decisions which would ultimately cost the taxpayer more money,” he said. “Given enough tools, evidence and time, I think a good agreement will be ratified and the taxpayers will save money over the long haul.”
Becker said the final millage rate and budget should be set marginally lower than the proposed 2.665 mils due to insurance rates figures which have been uncovered since the Sept. 7 budget hearing.
“When I figure out what the best possible budget I can present, given the status quo and given the dynamics of the operation and current needs that we have, I go ahead and put that budget together,” he said. “Honestly, we didn’t get the liability coverage until last week. Health care wasn’t really wrapped up until the county commissioners met last. I understand they were proposing a 10 percent increase and I guess they voted in a two percent increase. So, we’re going to be able to push the millage rate down based on those numbers. We’re seeing some changes now as the information becomes available to us.
“Regarding liability insurance, one of the difficult things we ran into is that nobody will insure us except for one group of underwriters. VIS, the only other provider of liability coverage to emergency services, is not bidding on barrier islands right now. We need to get that competitive piece back and hopefully we can drop some costs in coverage.”
There are 37 articles in the collective bargaining agreement and each article needs to be addressed systematically, says Becker.
“There is a lot of thought that has to go into it as well as how is it going to impact the financial piece and operation piece,” he said.
The Beach Fire District currently employs a total of 50 fire fighters with a minimum of 13 on duty at all times. At this time, it doesn’t appear the three Beach stations will suffer layoffs as it did last year. Attending Beach resident Bill Van Duzer -one of the few public input speakers who did not raise an objection to the proposed millage rate- knows first hand about the importance in the life-saving ability of Beach fire fighters and made a plea to the commissioners not to cut services.
Becker is another who would like to see his staff remain intact and not see a cut in services. Although the monetary projection was reported to be $5,233,988 in reserves and excess which amounts to roughly $700,000 under budget for the end of this fiscal year, he is still concerned with the current and future state of the economy and declining property values on the Beach.
“We’re looking to balance our budget for the long haul,” said Becker, during his pre-adoption presentation. “We need to maintain our reserves and stabilization fund knowing that we are looking at another decline next year and maybe the year following. We need to be extremely conscious of the economic impacts we are going to be facing down the road.”
The mission is vital to the local fire control district.
“I honestly believe the mission is the most important part,” said Becker. “Keeping that mission intact and answering those calls are critical now more than ever before. We have to adapt and find our way through it. We just have to be very thoughtful and responsible as we move forward.”