PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — The Pinellas Suncoast Fire & Rescue District needs a financial lifeline.
The fire district operates three fire stations in Indian Rocks Beach, Indian Shores and the Oakhurst area of Pinellas County. It serves as the main provider for fire and rescue to Indian Rocks Beach, Indian Shores, Belleair Beach, Belleair Shore and the unincorporated area of Pinellas County known as Oakhurst.
Without financial assistance, Chief Jeffrey Davidson worries that Pinellas Suncoast Fire & Rescue will run out of funds by 2025.
“If that happens, the district would be dissolved, and we would no longer be here. We have been here in this facility in the Oakhurst area of Pinellas County since 1973,” he explained.
Firefighters are hopeful that voters will help them keep their fire stations open. Davidson said the Pinellas Suncoast Fire & Rescue District’s future is now completely dependent on voters passing a new tax increase on the November ballot.
Voters will be asked to consider an annual ad valorem tax with a .67 millage rate. That means people who live in the district served by Pinellas Suncoast Fire & Rescue would pay $67 for every $100,000 of taxable value for their home. For example, a person who owns a home valued at $300,000 would pay $201 a year.
Davidson says the .67 millage rate cannot be increased without future voter approval. However, he adds that a 20 year projection was done to assure the .67 was the lowest millage rate possible to maintain the capital needs (fire stations, fire trucks, protective equipment etc.) and personnel needs of the District.
Davidson said the new tax would provide a permanent solution to help his district hire paramedics and firefighters, purchase new equipment, provide trainings and enhance the existing fire stations.
Currently, during major storms, firefighters are forced to evacuate from all three of the district’s fire stations and operate out of a nearby church parking lot. They would like to evacuate their beach stations to the fire station in the Oakhurst area of Pinellas County, but it's not built to hurricane standards currently.
Most residential homeowners in the district currently pay a flat rate of $360 a year in assessments.
Davidson said they're the only fire district that does not currently have an ad valorem tax in Pinellas County. However, their expenses have shot up exponentially.
“We must keep fire trucks on the road and last month, for example, our fuel bill just to keep them on the road was $6,000. That’s up from $2,700 a little over a year ago,” Davidson explained.
Barbara Styers hopes voters will consider extending a lifeline to the fire service. On June 29, a fire gutted her home around 2 a.m.
She’ll never forget the fear she felt when she smelled smoke, rushed outside, and watched as her home on Rustic Pines Boulevard burst into flames.
“Something just woke me up and it just didn’t feel right. I got up and looked up, it looked like smoke. Within minutes, I went to try to find my animals and all of a sudden, it was everywhere. It goes so fast. It’s terrifying,” she recalled.
The flames gutted her beloved home of 40 years. Luckily, the nearest fire station, which is operated by Pinellas Suncoast Fire and Rescue District, is less than 400 feet away.
“There are walls still standing because they got here so fast,” she said showing ABC Action News Reporter Sarah Hollenbeck the damage left behind.
Styers plans to rebuild her home and said she can say with 100% certainty that’s a possibility because of the quick response times from Pinellas Suncoast Fire & Rescue.
“I’m extremely, eternally grateful to them. They’re wonderful,” she added.
The Pinellas Suncoast Fire and Rescue District leaders say they are projected to run out of money from their reserves in 2025.
Davidson said the fire district has become busier since the implementation of a system that tracks the location of all fire trucks in Pinellas County. In one year, their main ladder truck ran 1,100 EMS calls and more than 400 fire calls. That represents a call volume increase of 33.8% in a single year.
In addition to their fire district, they provide backup support to many other communities in Pinellas County.
“Our stations are integral to the communities we support and the entire rescue system in Pinellas County,” Davidson explained. “We have firefighters and paramedics here that are third generation. I would like to see fourth and fifth generation families working for this department. We won’t be able to do that without a positive vote.”
Voters will see the referendum item on the November ballot. Fire leaders plan to educate the public about the proposed tax over the next several months during their time off the clock.
To read the referendum ballot language, click here.
You can read more about Pinellas Suncoast Fire & Rescue here.
