By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter
Levy County Commissioners were in a generous mood Tuesday when they gave six municipal fire departments all the county fire tax funding they requested.
The board raised Bronson’s allocation to $145,000, an increase of $25,000. Cedar Key was raised to $114,000, an increase of $10,000. Chiefland’s request for $297,635, an increase of $47,865, was approved. Fanning Springs was granted $114,192, an increase of $32,838. Inglis was given $132,592, an increase of $12,000.
Williston requested $297,663, unchanged from the current year’s budget. Williston didn’t request an increase this year.
The fire chiefs came to the county commission ready to defend their budget requests, but commission Chairman John Meeks said it wasn’t necessary to fight or argue about it, which was often the case in the past.
Commissioners decided not to contest any of the requests.
Commissioner Lilly Rooks motioned to approve all requests. Commissioner Mike Joyner made the second. The motion passed unanimously with no protests from anyone in the audience.
County Commissioners rely on city fire departments to respond to calls outside their municipal boundaries within assigned fire districts. The board contracts with cities to provide this service. The county fire tax provides funding for city fire chiefs to respond outside their boundaries.
In the past, commissioners often quibbled over county fire tax dollars, rarely giving city fire chiefs everything they wanted. Everyone pretty much figured the same thing would happen this year. Meeks started the discussion by saying it was his favorite meeting of the year. He was joking.
When Public Safety Director Mitch Harrell said all the chiefs were present and ready to make their case, Meeks told them to relax. With Chiefland having adopted a city fire tax and Bronson talking about a similar increase in city fire funding, and Williston already contributing more from its budget, Meeks said he liked what he was seeing.
“It’s a partnership. We appreciate that. We appreciate the municipalities pulling the wagon on fire protection,” he said.
Rooks said she appreciated the dedication of Cedar Key Fire Rescue and its tireless Chief Robert Robinson.
She told the story of how her son called recently to say there was a fire near a neighbor of Rooks. Her son said Robinson was on the scene fighting the fire and a fire engine was on the way.
“They worked into the night. They saved a big subdivision, my house, and a whole bunch of houses there,” Rooks said. “It wasn’t long before they had another fire on 347.”
She said Robinson responds to every call whether it’s a fire or a car wreck.
“We have come to depend on him so much and he gets no time off. He’s always on calls. I think it’s time for him to get somebody there to help him,” she said.
She said Cedar Key Fire Rescue covers Cedar Key and the area from Rosewood to Fowlers Bluff.
“That’s a large area to cover. There are little subdivisions all out there,” she said.
She hopes the city contributes more money to give Robinson some paid help at the fire department. Like all cities, Cedar Key is in the early part of its budget process.
All of the city fire departments carefully crafted their budget requests and discussed their fire needs with Harrell in advance of the budget hearing. Harrell said all the departmental requests were based on the need for fire trucks, equipment, and more manpower.
Harrell himself said his newest pumper truck is a 2006 model that came from Fowlers Bluff. Most of his trucks have been around longer than he has been in the fire service.
The county commission operates Levy County Fire Rescue. Commissioners are hiring four additional firefighters for its Morriston station, undoubtedly the busiest rural fire station in the county.
Commissioners are also paying Williston Fire Rescue additional money each time the department must respond when Morriston doesn’t have anyone to take a call.
Chiefland recently used its fire tax money to hire three additional full-time firefighters.
Dana Sheffield, a resident of Fanning Springs, said the municipal fire department in Fanning is shouldering a lot of residential fire calls in Trenton.
“Our fire department has substantial calls in Trenton and we’re trying to figure out how to recoup from the City of Trenton,” Sheffield said.
Harrell said he has been in discussions with the Fanning Springs chief but wasn’t at liberty to say what they talked about at this point.
“It’s really a load on Fanning,” Sheffield said. “I know the Fanning Council is upset about it because Fanning taxpayers are funding Trenton to a fairly large number.”
Harrell said Russell has asked the Bronson Council for a significant increase in town fire funding, but like Cedar Key, Bronson is in the early stages of his budget process.
Bronson Fire Chief Dennis Russell wants the town council to chip in an additional $25,000 annually to match the county’s contribution. He wants to purchase a new fire engine using a 10-year lease-purchase agreement.
Meeks said some of the dollar figures requested by the chiefs were “eye-popping” but he said there is a reason for the increases. He said the county is just trying to help the chiefs catch up on what they have been requesting for years.
“I appreciate Williston not asking for more. They got a pretty good bump last year. It comes in a cycle. It comes and it goes,” Meeks said. “At the end of the day, we have a responsibility to assist these communities and the county as a whole. They all run calls in the county. They all run calls in neighboring communities and counties and for the most part, we haven’t heard any complaints about any of them. They all do a fantastic job. It’s a lot of money, but I think at this point, where we are financially able, this may be the year to just go ahead and go all the way and grant the requests.”
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Board of County Commission Budget Meeting July 20, 2021; Posted July 20, 2021
