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Layoffs begin at Lehigh Acres Fire Dept.

By Staff | Jun 3, 2009

Nine employees have been given pink slips

Drastic fire cuts are facing firefighters and staff employees at the Lehigh Acres Fire Dept. Chief Don Adams told nine firefighters and two others Monday that they won’t have a job in a first move to laying off personnel. The jobs are expected to last another six weeks.

And before it’s over, some say half the firefighters in Lehigh will have lost their jobs. Chief Adams is expected to announce more layoffs between now and June 23. The massive cutbacks are likely to affect 40 employees or half of the department’s work force.

The chief has been warning the public for a year now that when the tax revenues shrink, there will be nothing for the fire district to do but lay off employees and most of those employees are firefighters and EMTs.

The layoffs were anticipated after the county tax appraisal office announced last week that Lehigh’s tax property values had dropped to a new low and that the fire department would not receive needed tax revue to operate as it has in the past. The loss of firefighters is the latest axe that has fallen on Lehigh due to the economic conditions following hundreds of foreclosures and high employment rates.

Spokesman Patrick Comer, the department’s public information officer, told the media Monday that he is among the first to lose his job. And he said this is just the start.

He says of the 40 employees that are expected to lose jobs, 30 of them will be firefighters.

He said he wished he could say response times won’t be affected, but admitted that they would almost certainly have to be. Response times will definitely have an effect during brush fire season.

Chief Adams is expected to announce the closing of the new fire station on Milwaukee and Bell boulevards. He could also announce the shutdown of another station since there won’t be enough money to staff it.

The meeting room at Veterans Park Community Center is expected to be filled on June 17 at 4 p.m. when Lehigh Acres Fire Chief Don Adams and his board of commissioners meet.

The main topic of discussion will be the bad news from the county that the department is facing a huge shortfall in tax revenues. The board and the chief are facing layoffs of maybe half of the firefighters in Lehigh and a cutback in ambulance service, the likelihood of shutting down fire stations.

This all comes after the Lee County Property Appraiser’s office released the 2009 estimated real and personal property values last Friday, May 29.

On Monday, 11 employees, nine of which are firefighers were told they won’t have a job after this week. And on June 23 or before, Adams is expected to announce more layoffs, if not sooner.

For Lee County there was an overall 24.83 percent decrease in taxable value. The school district experienced a 24.32 percent decrease.

The Lehigh Acres Fire District led the pack close to 50 percent, with a 49.92 percent loss of taxable value. Except for Boca Grande, Captiva, Fort Myers Beach, Matlacha, and Sanibel all of the fire districts had 19 percent or greater decrease in valuations.

Such a loss of revenue is bad news for Lehigh Acres residents who depend on firefighters to put out blazes in its 110-square mile fire district. Chief Don Adams could not be reached for immediate comment.

The fire board of commissioners okayed a plan to save money at its last meeting in May to allow staff and Chief Adams to work a four-day work schedule, 10 hours a day and close the administrative offices down on Fridays at the Milwaukee Blvd. fire station in an effort to save money on electricity.

But that isn’t enough for a shortfall from tax income to run the department.

The loss of nearly 50 percent in income is higher than Adams and his board had anticipated as they worked with the budget at a special meeting two weeks ago.

The Save Our Homes differential value plunged 63.06 percent. Due to the recapture rule homesteaded property will see a 3 percent increase in taxes, according to the county appraisal office.

The legislature failed to adopt Rep. Nick Thompson’s bill to abolish the rule. Among the cities Cape Coral led with a 33.48 percent decrease followed by City of Fort Myers at 23.41 percent, City of Bonita Springs at 20.07 percent, Town of Fort Myers Beach at 15.55 percent, and Sanibel at 10.19 percent.

Little additional value was added by reason of new construction. For example Cape Coral added only $141 million compared to last year’s increase of $892 million. It had no significant effect on the more than $5 billion overall loss of property values.

If the taxing districts try to make up the difference between last year’s and this year’s taxable values at the same spending levels a huge tax increase will be required. As of May 27 the Lee County median home is down to $88,500 compared to December 1998 of $78,500 and the peak of $322,300 in December 2005.

Final figures are due on July 1 from Property Appraisal Ken Wilkinson’s office. Little change is expected in the numbers, however.