By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter

            Levy County Commissioners every year face the touchy question of how much money they should pay cities to fight fires outside their municipal boundaries, and this year is no exception.

            It’s already on the menu for Chiefland.

            The city’s new fire chief, Dwayne King, wants to get an early start on the budget process this year to discuss his concerns about the 13-year-old contract the county uses to pay city fire departments for their services.

            He approached the city commission this week for their input on whether he should move forward with talking to the county about the fire contract with the city.

            “There is language in there that should probably come out. I believe it’s worth revisiting,” King said.

            The cost of long-distance fire calls to the unincorporated areas of the county is a concern to King and the actual size of the rural area Chiefland Fire Rescue is expected to cover is also a concern.

            Gathering Facts

            Mayor Chris Jones instructed King to gather facts on how much it costs for the city fire department to travel to Otter Creek, Rosewood, and Fowler’s Bluff to cover county calls for those departments as well as any other relevant data the chief believes is important.

            The fire chief will bring back the statistics the mayor requested along with a breakdown of costs associated with calls that take a long time to complete outside the city, long-distance fire calls, plus other data including the number, and cost of medical calls covered by Chiefland Fire Rescue, which aren’t specifically mentioned in the county contract.

            County commissioners provide cities with a lump sum of cash and the money is distributed to the cities in four quarters. The city must document how it spends the money.

            Service Levels, Coverage Area

            King wants additional clarity in the contract.

            “I would like to define the level of service. In other words, there’s nothing in there that defines the level of service and also defines the area of operations,” King said. “There needs to be a discussion, I believe, about the district allocation and distribution of funds based on the square miles we actually cover.”

            He also wants to get input from the county about their concerns. He said he wants a civil discussion about the issues. He realizes the city needs county fire funds to operate.

            King said Chiefland lies in District 7, which includes the city and 200 square miles around the city, but the county is relying on Chiefland Fire Rescue to cover quite a bit of area outside District 7 boundaries, including portions of other districts. The cost of long-distance fire calls has become expensive.

            City’s Contribution Higher

            The Levy County Commission currently provides the city with $342,281 of fire funding from its fire assessment program. The city contributes $442,781 to the city fire budget.

            Chiefland taxpayers contribute $227,199 from property taxes to the city fire budget and an additional $215,853 from the city fire assessment. The City of Otter Creek pays Chiefland $5,747 to fight fires.

            In years past, King said the county commission and city contributed about the same amount to the city fire fund every year. Circumstances changed when the city commission approved a fire tax. Now the city contributes more funding to its budget than the county.

            Last year, the county commission increased every city fire budget by 15 percent over the previous year to level the playing field among departments. King thinks the county may want to use the same distribution method this year.

            New Regulations Emptied Rural Fire Houses

            The old days are gone in firefighting. Most of the rural fire departments serving the unincorporated area have disappeared in Levy County thanks in large part to stringent state requirements to be a volunteer firefighter.

            Years ago, before the state began imposing costly and time-consuming requirements on volunteer fire firefighters, rural departments in Levy County were always staffed. Volunteers would be paged to the fire. They would throw on some bunker gear, someone would bring the fire truck and they would fight the fire. Volunteers loved their communities and were willing to work for little or no pay.

            It doesn’t work that way anymore.

            In the modern era, volunteers must receive 191 hours of training and pass a state firefighters test. Two experienced firefighters must sign off on the training before the volunteer can go to work for very little pay.

            It’s not a popular system and it has left many rural departments in Levy County’s unincorporated area with little or no staffing, and that reality has created problems for the Levy County Commission as well as cities that cover calls for the county.

            Unstaffed Fire Houses

            Fowlers Bluff, which is in District 6, has a nice firehouse, but no fire department to speak of. Otter Creek doesn’t have a firehouse or a fire department and Rosewood has a firehouse and basically no department.

            The county commission has a fire department but many of its firefighters are dual-certified ambulance paramedics and EMTs/firefighters that strap on fire gear and battle fires when they aren’t running medical calls.

            Most of the county commission’s rural fire departments are closed or barely functional – including Fowlers Bluff, Rosewood, and Gulf Hammock – but the county has begun staffing Morriston.

            Making Peace, Requesting More Funding

            Commissioner Rollin Hudson, senior member of the commission, said the issues are nothing new.

            “This has gone on for years, and years, and years, and you’re going to go out and help the county. If you have all the money you need in the city, you’re still going to respond when they need help. I would say we still need to get a little more money from the county – whatever we can,” Hudson said.

            King agreed.

            “Even though we talk about city and county borders, it’s a discussion for us. They’re residents. They’re our residents. They shop here, they live here. You live in the city. I’m 1,500 yards down the road,” King said. “These are our friends. These are, for a lot of people, our family and they believe Chiefland is their fire department. Even though they live in the county, they have come to love and respect us. It’s just a discussion that needs to take place and I wanted to bring it up early enough to get directions from you all – which direction would you like to take so we can have a civil conversation about our concerns and their concerns,” King said.

            Hudson added.

            “I hope the residents know – let’s say Fowlers Bluff – they understand when they dial, that the response is going to be from Chiefland which is a good 15 minutes away. That being said, buyer beware,” Hudson said.

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City of Chiefland Regular Meeting February 13, 2023; Posted February 17, 2023