OVIEDO, Fla. – Rising costs and shrinking property tax revenues have cities questioning whether it may be more efficient to merge their own fire departments with the county in the future.
During a budget workshop earlier this month, several commissioners in Seminole County asked Fire Chief Matt Kinley about consolidation. He replied that it was an interesting question for the commission to ask, but so far, no one had brought up what a merger would actually look like, what the cost would be, and how it would be implemented.
“With some of the talk that there has been over the past couple of years at the cities — as far as fire fees — I thought that it would happen and it has not,” said Chief Kinley.
This week, Oviedo Mayor Megan Sladek took notice of the topic and shared a clip from the June meeting online with her thoughts.
She wrote in part, “Since before I was elected, I have been open to having a discussion about consolidating Oviedo’s Fire Department with Seminole County’s. Given recent changes in state-level legislation, I believe it is time for our community to have that difficult conversation. And while we’re at it (and before we build a new police annex), we should have the same conversation about law enforcement.”
Sladek’s post on Facebook already has more than 100 comments from people with mixed reactions. Some question how consolidation would work in Oviedo and the impact on personnel and the current service level.
One man wrote in part: “Consolidation would significantly reduce our ability as a city to govern, direct, and tailor fire and emergency services to the specific needs of our residents,” and “Consolidation can create uncertainty for personnel regarding job security roles, seniority, and benefits.”
Another comment reads: “It will be a significant savings. I was on a small department in Monroe County when they combined. It had some growing pains, which worked themselves out in a short time. Response times and overall quality of service improved drastically after the combination.”
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Our News 6 team met with Mayor Sladek on Tuesday to hear her thoughts on the possibility of consolidating and why she thinks now is the right time to start this conversation.
“It’s not a crisis right now,” said Sladek. “We have a fully funded fire department. Everybody’s happy with the status quo. So, having this conversation when we are not having a financial crisis, that’s the time to have it. Not when we all of a sudden realize, ‘oh man, we can’t make budget.’”
Three cities within Seminole County have already made the move to merge with the Seminole County Fire Department. In 2002, Altamonte Springs was the first to consolidate. Winter Springs followed in 2008, and then Casselberry in 2015.
At the time when the city of Winter Springs was considering consolidation, city officials were looking at a more than 20% tax increase to fund its own fire department.
Balancing service needs with budget realities
Sladek says when she looks at budget projections and market pressures, the trajectory the city of Oviedo is on is not sustainable without “significant tax increases.”
“You, the residents, need to know that we cannot maintain the status quo without you paying more. We need to pay competitive wages,” Sladek wrote on Facebook. “You, the residents, need to know that there is an opportunity to realize some savings if we discuss merging some of our public safety functions with the County. It’s not going to be a fun discussion, but I think it is a necessary one.”
Sladek told News 6 about the city’s constraints and how the state constitution puts a cap at 10 mils on the tax rate.
“We’re not very close to that right now, but as we start to click up and residents ask for more transparency, the challenge is we’re not allowed to completely segregate into an enterprise fund or fire department if we continue to use a millage,” said Sladek. “So, that’s an option available to the county that is not available to the city.”
The proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year for the Oviedo Fire Department is $10,749, 207, according to the city.
The budget accounts for 58 total personnel (54 sworn firefighters, inclusive of Fire Chief and two Deputy Chiefs, one Administrative Coordinator, three Contract Fire Prevention Inspectors), who work out of two fire stations.
They also handle a fleet that includes two engines, two rescues, a tower truck, and additional reserve apparatus.
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When there is an emergency, whichever unit is closest will respond first, whether it’s a county or municipal crew.
“At this time, everywhere in Seminole County, the five different jurisdictions, the four cities with their fire departments, plus the county, are all operating as a single unit anyway,” said Sladek.
At the June budget meeting, Chairman Jay Zembower said he sees the benefit of more collaboration in the future and that consolidation makes “financial fiscal sense.”
“I mean, there’s going to come a time, I think, where the market pressures are going to be so great that each city is going to have to raise their taxes to a point where it’s unaffordable,” said Zembower. “And the county may end up doing the same thing, which is not where we all want to be.”
Commissioner Bob Dallari said he would like county staff to look into what consolidating with the four remaining cities, including Oviedo, would cost, so they have accurate numbers.
“Some of the cities are not looking at it from apples to apples,” said Dallari. “I just want to make sure that it’s clearly stated that the consolidation number you also have to look at capital improvement of replacement of their vehicles, as well as new stations. Some of the cities are not looking at that, and so that’s why they don’t understand why consolidation makes sense.”
Other cities implementing fire fees
Earlier this month, in Osceola County, the city of Kissimmee became the latest to implement a fire assessment fee in order to generate revenue needed to switch from the current 54-hour work week to a 42-hour one and fill the 49 positions they need to make the change.
Property owners will have their homes assessed annually to cover the costs, paying $150 for each property and an additional 56 cents per $1,000 of improvements. According to the ordinance, the estimated Fire Service Assessed Cost that will be recovered through Fire Service Assessments for the fiscal year starting on Oct. 1 is $6,136,466.
The city of Sanford is also considering implementing a fee of their own. The mayor said it would be based on the five-year average capital costs for the department, which are roughly $2.4 million. If it is implemented, the average homeowner would pay about $95 per year.
Oviedo considered creating a fire fee in 2022, but it ultimately failed. At the time, Sladek told News 6 the city had not been able to meet its public safety costs for the past 14 years.
“The last time we collected enough in property taxes to cover our first responders was 2008. Since then, we have not done it again,” Sladek said.
[WATCH video from 2022 when Oviedo rejected a fire services fee]
Sladek says she is encouraged by the discourse she has seen so far about the possibility of consolidation and hopes it will continue in the future.
“I love our fire department, but also I want to be able to pay them living wages and be competitive and not have them feel like they have to work for less than market rate, just so Oviedo can have its own standalone department,” said Sladek.
Sladek says three city council members would need to be on board to start an official discussion. If it eventually came to a vote, Oviedo’s city charter requires four out of five members to be in favor of consolidation.