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Escambia County Agrees To Fire Tax Increase; Failure Would Cut North Escambia Fire Services
June 17, 2011
The Escambia County Commission agreed Thursday night to raise fire fees. Without the increase, North Escambia fire stations will lose all paid firefighters that currently staff three stations during the weekdays.
The fire fee increases won’t be finalized until after the September 13 meeting to adopt a final tax assessment roll.
The Municipal Services Benefit Unit will increase on property tax bills by $5 per year for the next two years for county residents outside Pensacola and Santa Rosa Island. That will increase the current $75 fee to $80 for 2011 tax assessments and $85 for 2012. The commercial fee will rise from $.034 per square foot to $.037 per square foot, with a minimum of $80 for 2011 and up to $.040 per square foot with a minimum of $85 for 2012.
In 2009, the county hired 12 paid firefighters under a federal SAFER –Staffing Adequate Fire and Emergency Response- grant. The grant provided funding that decreases each year to fund the firefighter positions — $441,990 the first year, $385,413 the second, $245,701 the third and $150,369 for the fourth year. In the final year, 2014, Escambia County must fully fund $631,503 for the dozen firefighters.
The fee increase — an estimated $1.34 million over two years — will be used to replace the SAFER funds and maintain the current level of fire services.
The commission voted 3-2 in favor of the increase fees, with Commissioner Kevin White and Wilson Robertson against.
“The impact on your insurance rates will be much higher than $5 per year,” Commissioner Grover Robinson said of a no increase situation. “I believe this is a necessary move…I think it will actual decrease the money our citizens have to spend rather than increasing fire insurance rates.”
According to a presentation to the commission Thursday night by Escambia Fire Chief Daniel Spillman, a failure to adopt the fire fee increase would lead to the elimination of paid weekday firefighters that staff four stations — Century, Molino, Cantonment and Myrtle Grove. If that happened, North Escambia’s fire stations would have relied solely upon volunteers with no paid firefighters.
NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Comments
23 Responses to “Escambia County Agrees To Fire Tax Increase; Failure Would Cut North Escambia Fire Services”
Future Commish for dist. 5, You Got My Vote. As for as all the training requirements, do you want someone to show up who is certified or just satisfied.
Jay, if you really wanted to be a firefighter you would want to be the best. The best are well trained. You just want to be called a firefighter, you do not seem to be willing to do what it takes to actually be one. If you want to do it bad enough you will find the time to get all the requirements. Be Certified not Satisfied.
some more facts…
1. There are no more volunteers in the county; they are now paid-on-call.
2. FF’s receive a stipend upwards of $300, District Chiefs $500 plus a vehicle & phone
3. The stations in the north end do not have paramedics; possibly 2 at the most and cannot provide ALS prior to an ambulance arriving because they lack the proper equipment.
4. There should be a 24hr north end station however, call load unfortunately dictates placement.
5. The State of Florida dictates training standards, not Escambia County.
6. $100 a year is a bargain for the services that ALS fire response can provide.
7. Recent data will explain why you should desire paid fie coverage in the north end with the amount of unanswered call and lack of personnel on calls. Just because an engine or staff car is their does not mean sufficient help is available.
8. FF’s in Escambia County make around $30,000 a year and that is with some OT.
9. The north end does not “carry” the south end. People pay the fee not the property.
10. These are just a few facts and more can be answered properly if asked properly.
To all you complainers, what you going to do when there is not any money left to put fuel in the fire trucks, to come to you house fire, to put it out, or to rescue your daughter or son or dad or mom or wife , when they have a wreck , you like us when to be there and be there quickly,to help you, it is with great sorrow that you do not want to help us out so we can save your life.QUIT COMPLAINING.
I will pay 10.00 for my safety and welfare anytime as long as it is utilized correctly. The commission needs be responsible with it in other words. It is a small investment back in the community of which you take services from. So, the next time you need emergency personel think about that a moment was it worth your 10 bucks? Just saying.
the mention of my home owner insurance rates increasing “much more than $5.00/year” (per commissioner robinson) if the tax increase ISNT passed definately makes me lean more towards moving forward w/this $5.00/yr tax increase x2 yrs- i dont think its unreasonable, at this point.
There is no 24 hour paid coverage in the north end because we as volunteers can cover it. We have told Commissioner White that We could actually even cover it during the day, we DO NOT NEED PAID GUYS! Even though the majority of us volunteers up here are over 50, WE can handle it. Oh and another side note we will be a few minutes late getting to your house fire, car wreck, heart attack, or other emergency needs because we have to go from our house to the station to get a fire truck and possibly wait on more firefighters to get there. So PLEASE call your commissioner and tell them that we DO NOT support this increase and that we do not need paid fire fighters…………
YEAH RIGHT…… see how well that goes over for ya!
This will not pay for E.M.T. this is just for fire your right if where paying for a service it should be the same on both ends of county …..If there is 24 hr in south then it should be 24 in the north end …..
For all of you that are criticizing the ones who do not support this let me enlighten you on something. The negative support from myself is not because its more taxes. Nor is it because I don’t appreciate every firefighter, paid or volunteer, in the jobs they do for the small amount of money that they make. It is because the county commission needs to stop the excess spending in overtime period. I encourage you to call down town and get copies of expenditures from last year for fire. It’s public record so go for it. Then come back here and tell me that you still support this tax. And further more, if I am paying in North Escambia the same that South Escambia pays in fire taxes, why aren’t our North Escambia stations 24 hour like the South stations? Its like charging you for a steak yet im gonna keep half for myself.
It is a shame when people complain about a $10 increase in fire tax spread over two years. Would you rather have had us not take the “free money”? Of course we should have taken it even knowing it was going to cost more in the future. $10 is not enough to fuss about. If you don’t like what we are paying you can always move to another county that is paying more. I am not telling people to move, but fussing about $10 is ludicrous.
Do you people realize we are talking about a portion of our county employees that actually work and save lifes? How can you not think we need firefighters and EMT’s? Besides have any of you ever looked at how much a paid firefighter makes? Less than $11 an hour, to run fires, save your house, your loved ones, etc. We should be more focused on the other ways the county higher ups waste our money..BP money used to have concerts…get real..how does that help our community….people think about $10 for 2 years….give me a break
JAY, I commend you on your post. Your words will go far to help the relationship between the guys that are “in it for the money” and the volunteers who are only in it to help their respective communities and who would probably give up their stipends if need be to “help their community. LOL Newsflash genius, career guys live in the community also and care about it as much as the volunteer firefolks. Most of them were and still are part of the volunteer force and simply decided to make the fire service their life career.
FOR FACTS
THE class for this certs have not been offered enough and not at good time for people who work full time.
The campaigns are a joke. what 5 billbords and thats it. oh yeah and some thing on a web site. yeah that is good. And by the way it is not about the pay it is doing some for your commuity that is what pays. helping some one that is in need is all the rewarding to volunteers . Volunteers do do a lot for this community that is not show. I will like to say thank you to north escambia .com because they show the thing that the north end volunteers do for this community.
Yes the relateship is a lot better and some of the career fire fighters have change thier attuide towards volunteers and will now work with the volunteers . But still need some work.
the process to become a volunteer i agree about it is when u have some that is wanting to start learning and running calls and they can not becasue either they have cancelled some thing or they don`t know where to send them. it has been a head ache and a half
No, Mrs. Johnson, the northend does not pay for the rest of the county. If you look at the tax base of our county Perdido Key pays the most and is the cash cow. if anyone had a gripe about the increase it should be them. Not that there is anything to gripe about….ten dollars over two years? Seriously? Also by reading alot of the comments on here it is evident that alot of folks have no clue as to the needs or workings of the fire service, and although that is not a big surprise having lived around northend folks all my life, one would think that folks would better educate themselves on an issue before they comment.
Jackie, How do you figure the north end ” carries ” the rest of the county, just because you have more property? that is not the issue here. The amount of property you have has no effect on you ” fire” tax , it is a per household fee. …. John, You obviously have NO clue what you are talking about here. How about all the money that is wasted by Volunteer district chiefs having staff vehicles to run around in, or to just sit in their yard because they do not use them. the county has to pay for insurance on and fuel in all thesse vehicles. Also you see a lot of emegency vehicls on the side of the road at any given call in the north end is for the following reasons. The volunteers are not at the station so 1 or 2 show up and take one truck, then a 1 or 2 more show up and take the next truck, then another 1 or 2 show up…. you get the picture, then you have all the Vol, district chiefs and assitant district chiefs and whoever else they decide to let drive a county car, all on scene to just to have small total number of folks on scene. Why is everyone in such arms over over $10 spread over 2 years? Look at surrounding areas who have the same protection and you will find that $85 is resonable compaired to their over $100 fire tax.
Because we all know that the only thing that saves lives is transport?? People that are hurt don’t need oxygen or medications right, but you have a great idea, just wait on the ambulance and their job will be real easy because they can just pronounce the patient dead at the scene and go back to their staging area and sleep. Good call mam we need some population thinning!
I just want to throw out some factual information that I feel needs to be pointed out.
1. When the commission voted to accept the SAFER grant, they were well aware that it would end up requiring an increase in the MSBU and committed to make sure that happened when the time came. So, this vote should not be a surprise.
2. Volunteering is on decline all across the nation and not just in the fire service. The issue that Escambia Fire Rescue is facing with declining volunteers is not an issue that only they are facing.
3. Escambia county is actively doing things to recruit more volunteers including giving longevity pay, increased stipend, and advertising campaigns.
4. The increased level of training hours required is something that the State of Florida decides and not Escambia County. The local fire department is only responsible for enforcement.
5. The process to become a volunteer is more diffucult than it used to be. Now, you must go through a background check, a medical physical, and a physical agility test.
6. The unification plan that was approved also includes certain classes that need to be taken by firefighters (volunteer or career) based on their rank within the fire department. They were all given a specific time frame to complete the classes.
7. Escambia County charges much less for fire services than most of the surrounding area.
8. The commissioners could increase the fee up to 100 dollars per year without a county wide vote.
This next one is not exactly factual information, but I do believe that it is truthful.
The relationship between volunteers and career firefighters in Escambia County is better right now than it has been in years.
I hope that this information has helped some people. I fully understand that it will not be happy news to everyone that reads it, but they are all facts and not an opinion of one person. Be safe.
Thank you Mr. White and Mr. Robertson for voting against this tax increase. For the most part it is the north end that keeps the south end running as we have more property per person, therefore we the people (farmers, commuters to Pensacola and Mobile, etc.) keep the county running. I’m thankful to live in the country. I seldom visit the beaches, but I will take “God’s Country” anytime. Bratt has been a wonderful place to raise our family. As far as the medical standpoint of all the fire departments each volunteer fireman or firewoman has had First Responder, EMT or Paramedic training. Whether or not a fire department is made up of volunteers or paid NEITHER ONE CAN TRANSPORT PATIENTS. EACH DEPARTMENT HAS TO WAIT FOR AN AMBULANCE BEFORE INDIVICUALS CAN BE TRANSPORTED. Therefore the only thing paid firemen or firewomen may be trained higher in is actually putting out fires and heavy rescue!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seems odd that all the northend fire dpearments survived before paid firemen came into play. We are PROUD of our volunteers!!!!!
Is a 5 dollars over the next 2 years totalling 10 dollars really a big deal. If you break that downing is .41 cents a month. You can not get a soda out of a soda machine, you probably have that much lost in the cushions of your couch, there is at least that much in the cup holder in your vehicle. That is probably the cost of a few cigarettes, a can of cheap beer from a six pack. You spend more then 5 dollars for a fast food meal several times a month. 5 dollars is less then 1 months cable bill. So I think 5 dollar’s is not the issue hear, nor the uncertain economic times we live in. The problem is the backwoods redness and candy ass commissioners that don’t believe in the need for change or the advancements of our county and the safety of its citizens.
They will never take away fire fighters from the north because that would leave them leagel responable for any one that dies because of lack of medical attention. They need to try to bring more volunteers into the fire service. they do nothing to help get people into volounteering because they put them through so much crap just to volunteer. Plus they bought all these new engines why did they not plain ahead. Oh wait they did plain ahead because this is how the union told them how to get more money to hire more fire fighters so they can get more money. Lets bring back the volunteers. For one the volunteers get the same certs as career fire fighter and the volunteers care more about the comunity becasue that is where they live and they are there to help not just to get a pay check. beside alot of volunteer`s families live where they protect. I thank all those volunteers out there and do not let the county run you out
Kevin White just lost my vote…..This is not a time to be raising fees or taxes. They should have never hired full time employees on grant money that was going to run out later….that was not good business.
To john .u see these engine at fender benders cause someone got hurt.people have all kinds of problems, a hard bump could cause and underlying problem to show itself. Our emergency crew are two types BLS(Basic Life Suport) they can keep blood pumping and o2in and out, and shock you. Then there is ALS( Advanced Life Suport ) they can give you drugs like a paramedic (ie: firemedic). That’s why you see us on fender benders to make sure it’s safe.
When you take grant money (free money) to hire people (any job, not just fireman), then the next step is to raise taxes when the free money is gone. Just like taking candy from the baby, the baby is going to cry and cry loud!! However, paid fire protection I have no problem, just the way the gov’t sneaks things in the mix that gets me “fired” up!! I still think the voting process for county commissoner kind of stinks. With the population growing in the north end we should have two commissioners instead of the one. You know district 5 and 5A maybe?? you can still have 5 commissioners but combine the downtown areas into just 3.
Well here We go, more tax…..When are folks going to get tired of these greedy commisioners. Why do I see so many emergency vehicles at a fender benders wasting fuel. Dont get Me wrong I am glad We have the fire fighters, We need Them. I see alot of waste with Them, just like I see with the rest of the county goverment. I will be glad to see the day when folks rise up against the goverment, it will happen I may not be here to see it.