By Marvin G. Cortner
Editor

Owners of homes and businesses in Osceola County will see higher fire fees in the coming year following action Monday evening by the County Commission.

After a public hearing on the issue, commissioners in a 3-2 vote agreed to raise fires fees across the board and keep intact Osceola County Fire Rescue’s proposed $23.9 million budget.

Under the adopted fee schedule, which will become effective Oct. 1, homeowners would pay an additional $31.19 per year. Commercial and industrial property also would be assessed at higher rates, with restaurants, warehouses and resorts seeing significantly higher fees.

The commission also agreed to buy-down all fire fees for governmental- and institutionally-owned properties that are exempt from property taxes, such as schools and churches, using $2.07 million out of the general fund to do so. Commissioners, however, did not agree to buy-down any fee increases for small businesses, as they have done in the past, which would have taken the buy-down total to about $4 million.

Commissioner Brandon Arrington made the motion to adopt what was called “Option 1” involving raising fees enough to keep the Fire Rescue budget intact and the partial buy-down.

Arrington said in the future he wants the county to fund a Fire Rescue budget that does not pull money from the general fund and that all property owners – whether they are businesses, the School District or churches – pay for fire service.

“A fire fee should pay for what we need; we should not use (property) tax money,” Arrington said.

Ken Smith and Michael Harford were the other two commissioners voting for Option 1.

Commissioner John Quiñones said Option 1 would require small mom and pop businesses to pay about $500 more a year in fire fees.

“We are just going to make it tougher on the small businesses,” Quiñones said, adding that the higher fees would mean more businesses already struggling on U.S. Highway 192 would be forced to close.

Commission Chairman Fred Hawkins Jr. said he could not support the option as proposed because it would result in lost sales taxes and lost jobs as small businesses would be forced to lay off workers or close.

The other options considered were: keep fees the same as this year, but cut the Fire Rescue budget by $2.9 million, and buy-down the tax exempt government and institutional property as well as fee increases for small businesses using $4 million from the general fund; raise fees to allow only a $1.4 million budget cut and the $4 million buy-down; and raise fees enough so there is no budget cut and, at the same time, provide the $4 million buy-down.

Commissioners generally did not support any option that would have meant closing fire stations or firefighter layoffs because the likely result would have been increased costs for fire insurance that would have been more than the increase in fire fees.

Mike Horner, president of the Kissimmee-Osceola County Chamber of Commerce, said he was disappointed that the commission decided on fire fee increases of about 90 percent on industrial property and 30 percent on commercial property. The chamber previously had lobbied commissioners to increase fees incrementally over the next few years and to buy-down increases for small businesses.

“This fee increase is a job killer that will drive employers out of Osceola County,” Horner said.

During the public hearing, county commissioners said they are still looking for firefighters in the 2010-11 fiscal year to take a two-week unpaid furlough, just as other county employees will be required to do in order to help balance the overall county budget.

Adam Seithel, president of Osceola County Professional Firefighters Local 3284, said he has requested a meeting with the county manager to discuss how such a furlough would be implemented. He also said furloughing firefighters – who man fire stations 24 hours a day – is not as easy as furloughing other county workers who staff offices that close at the end of the business day.

Seithel said having firefighters off on certain days would mean others would have to fill in, requiring overtime, which would defeat the goal of cutting labor costs.

Fire Rescue Chief Rich Collins, in presenting the various options to commissioners, said no matter which option is chosen that fire fund reserves would have to be tapped in order to balance the proposed Fire Rescue budget

According to County Manager Don Fisher, Option 1 will not require any additional adjustments in the overall county budget, which Fisher presented to the commission earlier in the day.