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Voters to consider PSF&RD funding increase proposal
By HARLAN WEIKLE
Article published on Thursday, March 1, 2007 |
INDIAN ROCKS BEACH – Twin referendums that call for voter approval of funding proposals for the Pinellas Suncoast Fire and Rescue District may be the last opportunity for the district to remain a viable service.
The district, which recently completed an exhaustive external audit of its finances, estimates it will be able to remain solvent through August 2008, according to fire Chief Russell Livernois. The chief added the stipulation, “Provided we don’t have any major issues like a storm.”
The essences of the two referenda are, at base, these: The first referendum asks the voters to approve an increase in the tax per residential property of $70. This would increase the current levy from $190 per household to $260 a year.
Referendum No. 2, if passed, would signify to the state legislature that the district’s charter should be changed allowing the PSF&RD to receive automatic annual increases tied to the average five-year rise in personal income.
At the heart of the issue is perhaps the question of whether or not voters can make an informed decision without first comparing the cost of fire protection in neighboring communities, which are covered by Pinellas County. Livernois, using an arbitrary value of $250,000 for the value of a residential property protected by PSF&RD said that, at 1 mill the cost to the homeowner is $250, at 1.5 mill it’s $375. Apply that mill rate to the actual cost of a home in the beach community and the cost skyrockets. A $1 million residence would pay $1,000 a year.
“The fire district is asking for just $260,” he said.
Livernois pointed out that since 1950, when it cost each homeowner $6 a year, the district has raised its tax to just $190, that’s an average increase of about $4 a year.
In a phone interview, Mayor Rudy Davis of Belleair Beach said that he and mayors Bill Ockunzzi of Indian Rocks Beach, John Robertson of Belleair Shore and James Lawrence of Indian Shores had had discussions regarding the funding proposals. Davis said that although no recommendations came out of their meeting they did conclude that it was important to provide a fair cost of living remedy for the firefighters, adding that the cities “do need to keep this fire district healthy.”
In sum up Davis said that the mayors were more inclined to favor annual cost of living increases tied to the county average over a lump sum assessment. In any case, he said, the mayors felt that a flat fee increase of $45 rather than the $70 requested would have been a more appropriate figure.
Saying he has confidence in the management approach of Livernois, Davis felt the district had not been successful in building their case for an immediate increase.
“We need to understand the real cost of putting a piece of fire equipment in front of a home,” he said.
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Article published on Thursday, March 1, 2007
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