Kissimmee city commissioners have voted 4-1 to pass a new fire assessment, to raise revenue that will help fund the city’s fire department to hire more personnel and hopefully improve their morale and retention.
The measure was controversial, with many residents appearing at the meeting to speak out against a tax hike, but the commissioners were mostly united in passing it.
City officials say the new assessment intends to collect $6.1 million total from additional property taxes, which includes 56 cents per $1,000 of improvements to the parcel as noted by the county property appraiser, and then an additional $105 per tax parcel.
The additional revenue will go towards funding the hiring of more firefighters, according to Kissimmee Fire Chief Jim Walls, who said the tax revenue would help them hire enough firefighters to create a fourth shift so they can work 42-hour weeks. Their current schedules average around 56 hours a week, which has been causing burnout and stress.
The new plan would be to have them work 24 hours on and then having 72 hours off rather than 48. KFD would be the first in Central Florida to implement this schedule.
Walls said it would be “a favorable balance between operational efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and positive impact on our firefighter’s long term physical and mental well-being.”
“The additional day off will allow them to decompress and rest from working shifts that can be mentally and physically exhausting,” he said.
At Tuesday’s meeting, members of the public said the new tax would be a financial burden for many people in the city.
“I want to understand why we’re paying, on top of all the taxes we pay every year for real estate taxes,” said resident Susan Grossman. “I just want to understand why its not included in what we already pay for taxes.”
“I want to see proof that every firefighter has been working 56 hour weeks,” Claudia Zuco said. “This assessment should be placed on new construction builders, not long time homeowners.”
Subsequent speakers echoed similar sentiments, many of them praising firefighters but not wanting to see a tax increase. Resident Anna Mendez said it would be a “financial hardship” for her family, and resident Tom Kapp hoped there was a way to cap the amount residents would be taxed, as the amount they pay is “crazy.”
First responder Luis Pena said the increase was “critical for the work-life balance for first responders.”
“This way, we won’t be recycling employees every few years and having to train people from the ground up,” he said.
Josh Clark, the KFD firefighters’ union president, said the fee would be about fighting to retain “the best, most capable candidates” for the fire department.
“This is not about politics, this is not about profit,” he said. “It’s about making sure that when someone calls 911, someone shows up, trained and ready to act.”
The commissioners ended public comment after about an hour, and then discussed the matter themselves. Commissioner Carlos Alvarez III said the increase in taxes would be “a burden” on renters and homeowners alike. He said he wanted to explore other options like creating some type of school to train new firefighters in the area, before voting against the measure, though he clarified that he supports firefighters as well.
“Instead of having a fourth shift, I mentioned starting an academy to alleviate the overload work,” he said. “That’s what I was looking forward to.”
In support, Vice Mayor Angela Eady said she thought the city had an imperative to fund public safety—by whatever means.
“I can’t compromise public safety to save a dollar,” she said. “I can’t do that to someone willing to risk their lives to save a life. I’m not going to do it. It’s not right, it’s not fair to these people who get up every day, they’re not going up in a tree and saving a cat, they’re actually going in a fire to save a life.”
Mayor Jackie Espinosa said while she understood people’s woes about more property taxes, she’d “rather buy a house where the fire response time is eight minutes than 20 minutes.”
She said while she understood the reluctance to raise taxes, the city’s growth meant they would continue to see more need for firefighters’ services and other public safety needs. So they had to do something.
“We need to move forward,” she said. “We can’t delay this any further, only because the more we delay it, the more our city residents are at risk.”
