Fire chief predicts millage rate hike if homestead exemption referendum passes
Fort Myers Beach Fire Chief Scott Wirth is forecasting millage rate hikes if a state referendum to increase the homestead property tax exemption up from $50,000 to $250,000 passes in November.
While the Fort Myers Beach Fire Control District Board of Fire Commissioners approved Wirth’s request to freeze the current millage rate at 2.76 mills per thousand dollars of property value, Wirth said the district would have to increase that rate if the homestead exemption increase passes.
To account for the homestead exemption’s impact in the first year, when it would rise from $50,000 to a $150,000 exemption, Wirth said the millage rate would go up from 2.76 to 2.93 mills. In the second year, when the exemption would increase to up to $250,000 of a property’s value. Wirth said the millage rate would rise to 3.02 mills per thousand dollars of assessed property value to make up for the loss in tax revenue.
According to figures provided by Wirth, based on property assessment numbers from the Lee County Property Appraiser’s Office, the Fort Myers Beach Fire Control District stands to lose $341,788 in property tax revenue in the first year (2027) of the homestead property exemption increase, and a $509,788 loss in revenue in second year when that homestead exemption goes up from $150,000 to $250,000 in 2028.
Once the district reaches a millage rate of more than 3 mills, Wirth said “we will be forced to add user fees or lower services.”
The Fort Myers Beach Fire Control District has a $30.38 million budget. Approximately half of the budget, at $15 million, is for personnel. About $10.5 million of the total budget is in reserves. The district recently completed the construction of a new fire station on Estero Boulevard to replace the old station off Donora Boulevard that was destroyed by Hurricane Ian. The department also has plans to construct a fire training facility on San Carlos Island.
Wirth said the department’s finances could still changed, based on approximately $60-65 million in estimated property value for open permits the town currently has for new construction. Wirth cautioned that property values could also go down, which could negatively impact budget forecasts.
Fort Myers Beach Fire Commission Chair John Bennett asked Wirth what services would be cut once the department maxes out its millage rate.
“We operated with two stations before. I don’t want to go back there,” Wirth said. In addition to its new Estero Boulevard station, the department has a fire station on Lenell Road on the south end of the island near Santini Marina Plaza, and another station on San Carlos Boulevard off island.
In November, voters in Fort Myers Beach and in the Iona-McGregor Fire District, will vote on a referendum to merge the two fire districts. The merger proposal was approved by the state legislature despite opposition to the merger from leadership in both districts.
If there was a merger, Wirth said fire-based transport on the island would go away from the Fort Myers Beach Fire Control District, and instead would go to Lee County ambulance.
“Everything is on the table. The last thing we want to do is shut down response vehicles and the last thing we want to do is cut services,” Wirth said.
Bennett believes the homestead exemption will be approved, thus paving the way for likely cuts to the department. “I have a feeling it is probably going to happen (homestead exemption referendum passage). That is just my gut, knowing how people see the sunshine and not the clouds,” Bennett said.
“I hate to have to go back up on the millage rate,” Wirth said. “But that is what we have to do.”
Bennett said “it is certainly going to be a trying challenge for all of us.”