Letters To The Editor On Fire Study

[Bob Hudson]

As of this writing (4/17/17) the “Fire Fact Finding Report” by the Sheriff’s Office has not been posted on the websites of the Sheriff’s Department, Board of County Commissioners, or Clerk of Courts. However, it is making its way around the county via the Internet since it is a public document and subject to review by the public.

On April 25th, 9am, the BCC will hold a public hearing at the courthouse in DeFuniak Springs to discuss the report. All this came about due to a request by County Commissioner Melaine Nipper who asked for a professional study on fire services being brought under the Sheriff’s Office. The Sheriff convinced the BCC he could do the study and save money. Smart move by the Sheriff! This put the fox in the hen house.

This move is systematic and typical of Walton County politics aimed at consolidating power! Of course the Sheriff will say this was not his idea, and that he is only doing the bidding of the BCC by providing the report. Also, in doing so he just wanted to save the taxpayers money by doing an in-house study. Maybe so, but one has to wonder about the under the table lobbying that has been going on.

Having said that, we do have one of the finest Sheriff’s Departments in the state. That is not in question. The question is North Walton Fire Rescue. Reading through the report it became very apparent early on the ‘study group’ expanded the question far beyond the original intent. The study became an analysis of fire management and services in the non-incorporated areas currently being served. The report claims this was not what they did, but it sure looks like to me they came close enough in that they addressed so-called shortages, man-power needs, etc., and additional funding that would run into additional $millions in increased cost. What does this mean? Probably more taxes and/or higher fire assessments on property owners, individuals, and businesses in the near future!

It is common knowledge current fire assessments do not come anywhere close to paying the costs of services being provided. The vast majority comes from the general fund which is paid by all taxpayers. This is included in the report. It seems to me the Board of County Commissioners need to address this issue first before they even think about tearing up the whole system with reorganization. They need to hear from the citizens being served. Are they happy with the service they have and the amount they have to pay, or are they unhappy and willing to pay for more services. What do the people have to say?

Since only two counties out of 67 in Florida have fire control under the Sheriff this is a clear indicator the idea is not popular with the public. Let the Sheriff tend to law enforcement issues, and let the Fire Chief fight fires and tend to those public service needs. If more attention needs to be placed on the county-wide fire district in north Walton then the BCC should get on with. If personnel and operations changes need to be made within fire department management that’s the job of County Administration and the BCC.

Incidentally, of the 20 county officials and private citizens who formed the study committees not a single private citizen from the non-incorporated area being served were included. The committee citizens are highly motivated individuals and have been involved in county affairs for many years. Having worked alongside these folks for Sunshine in county government I know them all and they are good people. However, the common citizens who would be impacted the most were dismissed and systematically ignored by both the Sheriff and the Board of County Commissioners. Why were all the committee citizens from south Walton and none from north Walton? That’s a good question, and don’t tell me it was a simple oversight!

What this whole issue really boils down to is neglect and indifference by County Administration and the Board of County Commissioners. The current state of affairs of low morale, inadequate staffing including management, substandard housing for firefighters and lack of training opportunities all cost money and require appropriate attention. You can’t expect anything different when resources are requested in the annual budget process and denied. Shame on Administration and the BCC for kicking the can down the road to the state of affairs we have today.

J. B. Hillard
DeFuniak Springs, FL

LETTER 2

One of the most critical issues currently impacting North Walton citizens is our fire and EMS service: what level of service do we need, how will we pay for it and who will manage it. North Walton citizens need to plan to attend the BCC meeting April 25th at 9am in the courthouse at DeFuniak Springs to make the commissioners aware of their desires and needs.


The level of service needed is the first and most important question to be decided. While everyone would like a fire and EMS station next door, the truth is that fire and EMS services are very expensive. Large areas of the North end are several away from the nearest fire station and most homes are not close to a fire hydrant.


So, the truth is that for many North end residents the fire department can only put the remains out and have almost no chance of saving a structure.

To increase this level of service would require building more stations and hiring more employees. One estimate is that an additional 55 employees would be needed to cover every area and those new employees would require a doubling of the current salary budget of 5 million dollars.

North Walton homeowners currently pay an MSBTU tax of $75 dollars per residence to fund the fire service. This tax provides approximately $970,000 of the current 5-million-dollar budget. The estimate is that the MSBTU tax would have to be increased 5 times on each residence to fully fund the proposed increases needed to provide better coverage.

Other proposals are to enact a ½ cent sales tax to fund the fire service or to form an independent fire district such as South Walton, Argyle and Liberty with the ability to levy its own taxes.

Finally, who manages the fire service is being discussed. Currently the department is operated by the BCC with a Fire Chief subordinate to the County Administrator. There is a proposal to turn management over to the Sheriff’s Office.

The stated purpose of this change is to improve management and services; however, no clear statement has been provided outlining how the Sheriff can accomplish these goals nor how he will pay for any improvements.

The funds must still come from the taxpayers through the BCC and the public would have limited input into the issues that arise. Another reason for pause is that the cost of transferring management from the BCC to the Sheriff has not been provided but would undoubtedly be in the hundreds of thousands of taxpayers’ dollars. And a new sheriff sometime in the future would not be required to continue managing this operation which would necessitate another huge expenditure to transfer operational control back to the BCC.

Many North Walton residents are senior citizens or have low to moderate income and cannot afford a 500% increase in their taxes. It would especially onerous to raise taxes whatsoever if the level of service does not rise to give the property owner a reasonable chance of having their property saved in case of a fire.

Further, North Walton is predominately rural and the population densities do not produce large numbers of calls for service. The entire North end produces less than one call per hour. These numbers do not justify huge tax increases that will be a horrible burden on those in our community who can least afford to bear it.

In response to this complex and vital issue the Walton County Taxpayers Association presented a recommendation at the last County Commission meeting requesting a professional, independent study with input from those served by the North Walton Fire District to provide commissioners with all the information necessary to make an informed decision that is in the best interests of the citizens of North Walton County.

Danny Glidewell
DeFuniak Springs, FL

 

[Danny Glidewell]

Letter #3

Infrastructure. The word is used quite a bit, especially in government discussions, but what exactly is it and how much is the responsibility of the government. Infrastructure is defined as the basic physical or organizational structures and facilities needed for the operation of a society or enterprise. As applies to local government, it refers to those structures or organizations that are owned by the public and cannot be provided to society by a private individual or entity. Roads, bridges and law enforcement are some basic examples.

Once an item has been determined to be necessary to society and it has further been determined that only local government can provide the facility or service, then it is necessary to determine the level of service or size of the facility that is necessary to meet the needs of the public at a cost point that the taxpayers can afford. Four-lane divided highways are wonderful but building one to serve one single family home is not practical or necessary. A dirt or gravel road will be sufficient and cost effective.

This brings us to the current discussion about the North Walton fire service. Years ago, the Board of County Commissioners determined that the volunteer fire services then in use were inadequate and that professional fire service was a necessary infrastructure need for the county. Little to no public input was requested or received and the individual fire departments were either voluntarily absorbed or were coerced into folding into the county service. In hindsight, this was a poor decision but it was made and now we must live with the consequences and move to improve the service as much as is possible with a realistic budget. The exceptions were the Liberty and Argyle districts who have thus far fought off county efforts to take them over.

The costs for these two departments are pennies on the dollar compared to the BCC provided service and the level of service is approximately equal. The county-provided service is understaffed and the stations are not located in prime locations, nor are they suited structurally to house 24/7 professional service. They were designed to support volunteer services that were targeted to specific communities instead of large areas.

The North fire service responded to approximately 228 actual fire calls last year with only 65 being structure fires. This is less than 1 fire call per day and a little more than one structure fire per week for the entire North end except Liberty, Argyle and DeFuniak Springs. 87% of the total calls (6576) were medical calls and the remaining were listed as fire related calls. So much of what is being spent for fire/medical emergency services is fire related and the huge increases that are being proposed now are mostly fire related when medical is the discipline with the majority of calls for service and the greatest need. There is no way to say this is a cost-effective use of resources.

The current MSBU tax provides less than 1 million dollars in revenue. This tax is currently $75 per home. To get revenues anywhere near enough to pay for the current budget plus the wish list currently being proposed would require this tax to increase about 10 times the current amount. Add the ad valorem taxes that would still be owed and many North homeowners would be priced out of the market. Such huge tax increases would stifle economic development and the resulting increased living expenses would drive many from the area. Simply paying for these increases from property taxes is not acceptable either. These huge increases in expenditures would require either cuts in spending elsewhere or tax increases countywide. South end residents already pay extra taxes for their fire service as well as fund most of the North service through ad valorem taxes. Increasing this amount will be unacceptable to those residents. The third possible payment mechanism is a ½ cent sales tax. The proponents of this option will say truthfully that a sizeable portion of this tax is paid by tourists. But using this taxing authority to pay for the North fire service will preclude its use to fund other basic infrastructure projects that would bring economic development and better living conditions to the entire county.

This brings us back to whether a huge fire service is a needed and necessary use of our limited fiscal resources. Will such increases in funding bring economic development? Or even a reduction in home insurance premiums without first improving water service and installing fire hydrants in the vast areas currently without them? The answer is probably not. Had anyone from the North even been invited to participate in this current study, or any other study regarding service to the North, then this could have been properly addressed. The fact is that we need the basic infrastructure necessary to bring economic opportunity to our citizens, especially our younger citizens, first and foremost.

What can we do then to improve the fire service in the North? First, take care of the current employees. Bring their equipment up to date and provide a decent salary and benefit package. Then, initiate a plan to relocate and modernize the stations on a needs basis to maximize efficiency and employee comfort. Third, gradually increase front-line supervision and hire employees for the denser areas such as Paxton, Freeport, Mossy Head and Black Creek. Staffing and equipment assignments should be based on need instead of politics.

These objectives can be realized without huge tax increases and phased in based on need. As to whether the service should be managed by the Sheriff or the County Administrator, taxpayers must realize that systemic changes require significant expenditures. These functions are BCC provided functions and should be managed as such. Those responsible for the poor decisions of the past should be held accountable and the BCC should allow the Fire Chief under the direction of the County Administrator to do the job they were hired to do.

 

[lazin&drinkin]

Danny, thanks for some valuable insights into the Fire/EMS situation in N. Walton. I agree with your observations. I’d like to append some thoughts on the proposed transfer of Fire/EMS to the WCSO.

I absolutely agree this should not be transferred to the WCSO.

This is not to denigrate the WCSO’s abilities or capacities. It is instead to point out, in addition to Danny’s observations, that the WCSO budget requests and decision-making processes are about as transparent as lead shielding on a nuclear reactor, which is to say that the WCSO is not held accountable and does not operate in the sunshine as the BCC is required by law to do.

The last thing we need is another huge aliquot of tax money going into a dark hole at the WCSO. The public has a right to know, in advance, with the noticed opportunity to speak in a public forum, what, when, why, and how its tax moneys are boing allocated and spent on Fire/EMS and everything else. It’s hard enough to discern with the BCC in charge, and it will be much more difficult, if not impossible, were this to go to the WCSO.

The BCC is attempting to dodge accountability with this proposal to shift control of Fire/EMS to WCSO. Punt it to another constitutional officer, then let him take the responsibility for curing the mess they have contributed mightily to. That’s the wrong way to go about this business.

As Danny and other residents of N. Walton have said, the BCC has never asked them what they want or need, nor has it involved them in any organized study of cost/benefit. The very first thing that needs doing is for the citizens covered by these services to be involved with the BCC (in a public noticed forum) in exploring what these folks want and need, then taking into account as part of those discussions the costs involved and the various means of paying those costs.

The present process has all too accurately reflected the historical propensity of the BCCs of this county to Ready, Fire, Aim. We have two Commissioners, Melanie Nipper, who is doing a good job getting this discussion going, and Sara who seem inclined to get the train back on the track. The others need to be persuaded to re-examine their approach to governing, especially in this life safety issue. Absent that latter, we need 3 new ones. Danny, you would be a good start.

An independent outside agency needs to be leading this process, not the WCSO. Time to punch the reset button before we waste more time and money.

 

[Danny Glidewell]

Very valid points Lazin&drinkin.

 

[John G]

Not a letter to editor, but great story.

Go SWFD!!!

South Walton Fire District Pays it Forward

 

[Kaydence]

Danny, who built the Liberty Fire department?

 

[Danny Glidewell]

The north station on Kings Lake Road was built by the district many years ago. The south station on highway 90 was built through a grant from the federal government as part of the economic stimulus in 2009. Liberty had plans for the station and was shovel ready when the package was approved by Congress.

 

[Kaydence]

The north station on Kings Lake Road was built by the district many years ago. The south station on highway 90 was built through a grant from the federal government as part of the economic stimulus in 2009. Liberty had plans for the station and was shovel ready when the package was approved by Congress.

Had the BCC been actively involved in seeking grant monies the other stations might not be in the shape they are in. As with everything else, if the BCC has a hand it, trust that its going to turn to s*it!