Fire Chief Don Adams of the Lehigh Fire and Rescue District talks about layoffs at the fire department. Photo by Mel Toadvine

A large turnout is expected on June 23 at 6 p.m. in the auditorium of the new East Lee County High School on Thomas Sherwin Ave., near Milwaukee and Bell Blvds. It’s a scheduled special meeting or budget meeting of the Lehigh Acres Fire and Rescue District. Firefighters have been passing out literature inviting people to the meeting.

Fire Board commissioners are facing tough decisions because of the lack of money coming to the fire district this year from taxes in Lehigh. A few weeks ago, County Property Appraiser Ken Wilkinson released preliminary figures showing that Lehigh’s property values have gone down nearly 50 percent. Official figures will be released on July 1 from Wilkinson’s office, but they are not expected to be any different from his current projections.

Within a week of the announcement from Wilkinson, Chief Donald Adams announced a layoff of nine firefighters and two administration people. He also has come up with a timeline and will lay off even more firefighters in the coming weeks and months.

This special meeting should not be confused with the fire board’s regularly scheduled 4 p.m. meeting on June 17 at Veterans Park Center.

The budget is not expected to be on the agenda because the special meeting on June 23 will be entirely devoted to that subject.

However, at the regular meeting, the public may speak at the end of the meeting on any subject and some may speak out about the layoffs and the financial condition of the fire district.

Adams has talked to employees about layoffs and when to expect them.

The Office of the County Appraiser only informs taxing districts of the taxable evaluation of property in their districts. That agency does not raise taxes. It only tells taxing districts what to expect in funding as budgets are being prepared.

The Lehigh Acres Fire District must have a budget ready by the end of summer. A new budget takes effect on Oct. 1 so the board of supervisors must come up with a way to keep the department working. They depend on the chief for recommendations, but they have the final say when it comes to finances. There is a possibility of closing down fire stations and limiting ambulance service.

Adams told an audience of citizens and firefighters two weeks ago that it was nobody’s fault, but the situation has come about because of the poor economic conditions of Lee County and especially Lehigh which was hit the worst in loss of property value.

The present millage rate in Lehigh is 2.79 mills per $1,000 on the valuation of a home or piece of property. They can vote to raise it to 3 mills but that is a cap and they can not raise taxes any more without a special referendum of the voters which would cost as much as $160,000, the fire chief has said. He also has said it would take “six or seven mills” to make up the different to retain current services and balance the new budget.

Although firefighters have been given questionnaires concerning what concessions they may be willing to give up, if any, to help save jobs, no information from the union has been offered.

At the special meeting, the union could offer concessions if that is what the majority of its members have agreed to do.

Fire Chief Adams has said that next year this time may be even worse. He said property values may continue to drop and if they do, so will the amount of funding from taxes.

Many firefighters who have lost their jobs this month say they don’t know what to do or where to find a job. Some say they may lose their homes to foreclosure. Many are young men with families and young children.