Will the Lehigh Acres Fire Control and Rescue District go bankrupt?

It has been reported in the press that Lee County property tax revenue will decrease 23.2 percent.

The fire district auditor presented a forward projection of the financial difficulty of the district. A summary of 2009 real estate transactions showed a 41 percent decrease in value of single-family homes with a median sales price decline from $ 93,000 in 2008 to $ 55,000 in 2009.

For multi-family homes the median sales price decreased from $82,456 in 2008 to $45,000 in 2009, a 45 percent decrease. Thus a 40 percent overall decrease in property tax revenue is not an unreasonable estimate. The Florida Department of Revenue preliminary certification of property value assessments will be issued on June 1.

The tax base will soon be at the pre-speculation level. Instead of conservative financial management the fire board went on a spending spree.

Personnel services constitute 82 percent of the budget. Personnel costs may exceed total tax revenues. There is no money for operational expenses including maintenance, repair, and fuel.

A review of pay and benefits establishes that over 50 percent of the fire district personnel receive compensation in excess of $100,000 per year. Negotiations between the union and management have reached an impasse. The union has refused to consider pay adjustments.

Due to the lag time for receipt of tax revenues after the adoption of the October 1 budget the District must carryover several million dollars in cash to cover expenses for the first three months of the fiscal year.

Thus the issue is not whether the district will go bankrupt but when will it become financially insolvent.

Although there are several million dollars in “reserves,” this money will soon be exhausted.

When I asked for a copy of the budget briefing book I was informed that there was none. As an analyst it is beyond my imagination how one can create a budget for a multi-million dollar operation without a budget briefing book.

Over the last several years I have repeatedly warned the commissioners that they could not continue to spend, spend, and spend. Unlike Washington which prints money and borrows trillions of dollars the day of reckoning is here and now for the Lehigh Fire District.

The question presented to the taxpayers is whether you want to increase your fire tax by 50 to 100 percent and continue on this course of lavish spending.

The District already enjoys an unnatural benefit. The homestead exemption does not apply to the fire tax. Every dollar of you property assessment is taxed at full value. Every taxpayer in the Lehigh Acres area pays the full tax. The board of commissioners is now considering placing on the ballot a proposal for a massive tax increase.

Everything must be put on the table. Allocations of responsibility among staff, reductions in staff, pay adjustments, reorganization of the District, changes in work structure and procedures, consideration of a volunteer auxiliary for brush fires during the dry season, and anything else my fellow citizens that you can suggest for constructive reform.

If you haven’t been involved in the past now is the time for your active participation. The next meeting of the fire board is on Wednesday, April 21 at 4 p.m.at Veterans Park.

For a copy of the current salaries of employees of the Lehigh Acres Fire Dept., click on the blue link.

Kevin Shea is a resident of Lehigh Acres.