Jeff Tuscan

Lee County Fire Dept. Commissioner David Adams has suggested to his fellow board members – Larry Becker, Jeff Berndt, and Linda Carter – that they take action and call for a straw vote on the ballot in November to ask the residents of Lehigh Acres how they felt about an assessment fee on their properties to bring in needed revenues to keep the fire department alive.

The suggestion came after Jeff Tuscan, an auditor from a firm bearing his name in Fort Myers, offered a 48-page Draft Audit of the Lehigh Acres Fire Control and Rescue District which showed that ad valorem taxes which support the fire department are on the decrease and that without additional revenues, the fire department will be operating in the red by the end of this year and/or in 2013.

Adams’ proposal last week to have a question put on the ballot drew little support from others on the board. However, the board’s attorney, Richard Pringle, told the board it had the authority to initiate other funding sources. The idea to put an assessment fee on each piece of property in Lehigh has come up before but never gets any support.

With a bleak future for funding the department over the next few years, many believe that an assessment fee is needed in some amount from as low as $25 to $50 and even $100 to keep the department afloat. The fee would be paid annually along with ad valorem taxes which are only a few bucks for most homeowners due to the ailing economy and the devaluation of homes and properties.

Tuscan spent around an hour explaining the results of the audit which was conducted for the fiscal year 2011. He showed charts showing income and expenses, and how the department had to borrow from its savings in order to operate.

Even with a sought after second SAFER grant of $6.7 million, the figures still indicate heavy losses for the department in the next few years.

The department received a SAFER grant in the amount of $8.9 in fiscal 2010 to rehire positions lost due to layoffs in late 2009. The grant has a two-year period of performance ending this coming August 13. The positions had to be maintained for a period of two years.

Chief Donald Adams and his staff have applied for a second SAFER grant (which stands for Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response) for this year in the amount of $6,717,058. Without another SAFER grant, layoff of firefighters will likely come about again.

Chief Adams told the board the federal government’s FEMA program had contacted the department with questions and that it was a good sign for receiving the award. Later after the meeting on April 25, the chief told The Citizen that he expected news of the award of the SAFER grant by the middle of June.

“I feel very good about it. It will keep our firefighters’ jobs and provide the safety and security that the residents and businesses of Lehigh Acres deserve,” he said.

The grant is a direct handout from the federal government with one stipulation, that the money be used to hire needed firefighters and that during the course of two years or 2014 that the number of employees it staffs be continued. It mandates that if a firefighter leaves the job, that his or her position be filled. The money cannot be used for any other purpose than paying for firefighters. It cannot be used to support the ambulances.

Chief Adams had said earlier this year that the grant would cover 46 firefighter positions for the two-year period, which represents 44 percent of the department.

He had also said that without the SAFER grant the department would be faced with the possibility of closing two fire stations.

The SAFER grant two years ago was one of the highest amounts awarded to a fire department the size of Lehigh.

The audit report was a comprehensive look at the department with much factual information, not only about its finances, but information about service, numbers of calls, etc.

The board voted to accept the audit. The Tuscan audit formed no opinion or gave any advice about the future economic conditions of the department. It presented factual material as required by state and federal guidelines. The full audit can be viewed at the fire department on Thomas Sherwin Ave., near the East Lee County High School, off of Milwaukee Blvd.

The question of “educating Lehigh residents” about the financial difficulties that the department is experiencing came up again, but no resolution was made. It had been suggested by one board member that there be a town hall meeting at one of the high schools and urge all of Lehigh to attend to learn about the financial problems the department is facing.

One of the board members echoed others who have spoken before the board saying that the community needs to know what may happen to their fire department if there is not another source of revenue to support it. An annual assessment fee could be what is needed to keep the fire department afloat over the next few years.

The meeting was held at 6 p.m., instead of 4 p.m. which has been the case for the last several years. But with the urging of some attendees, the board in March changed the time to 6 p.m. hoping to attract more people to the meetings.

However, the time change didn’t attract any more visitors than usual. Several firefighters and their families usually attend and from time to time a few members of the public in general.

One gentleman in the audience went to the microphone and praised the department. He said that during recent wildfires near Columbus Blvd. the efforts by the firefighters showed their “outstanding ability” to fight fires in Lehigh.

He went on to plead that if any stations are closed and firefighters laid off, “it would be like a nail planted in Lehigh’s well-being.”

He told commissioners that if there is any way to crunch the numbers to save jobs in Lehigh, it was their duty to do so. His statement drew hand clapping from the audience.

Danny Stephenson, the entertainment chairman for the Lehigh Spring Festival who is also a member of a board of directors which puts on the March festival each year, asked the board to forgive a $840 bill which the department sent to them for providing services at the festival grounds.

He admitted that it was difficult to ask for the bill to be forgiven in light of the economic problems the fire district faces.

He said in previous years that the fire department had not charged the festival for its services. Stephenson said that the festival is in the red, saying that this past March’s week-long festival lost $8,000.

He noted how difficult it has been for sponsors of the festival to match donations given in past years due to the ailing economy.

He noted that the Lee County Sheriff’s Office charged the festival committee $11,000 and last year $12,000, much to the chagrin of the volunteers who operate the festival and parade.

“In the years before, they only charged us $3,800 for providing security at the festival. All of this has put us in a bind,” Stephenson said.

The board voted to forgive the fee but Commissioner Larry Becker told Stephenson that in the future, he should come before the board before the festival and not afterwards “so we’re not surprised.”