07-05-2008, 09:55 PM
Fire officials lobby for tax
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By THOMAS R. COLLINS
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Friday, July 04, 2008
WEST PALM BEACH — When Fire Station 4 was built on Parker Avenue in 1961, the fire department put out fires. And that's all it did.
Today, the city department responds to medical calls and runs a much more complex operation.
Six fire department employees work at Station 4, compared to three when the building was new. Space is tight. There are more trucks - including a huge machine called an urban search and rescue truck, equipped with special devices used to deal with major building collapses and pulling people out of confined spaces.
The bottom line, fire officials say: We need a new station.
"It doesn't meet current standards," Assistant Chief Kenny Jones said this week.
And they say they'll probably need a fire tax to build it.
The department has pushed for a new fire tax for months, saying that to keep up with capital costs - such as new stations and new trucks - the money in the current budget might not be enough.
City commissioners are scheduled to vote on the tax July 28. They've already declared that the maximum will be $25 for each home and a few cents per square foot for other properties. Finance officials say it will generate $1.7 million a year, enough to give the city capacity to issue bonds for replacements for Fire Station 4 and Fire Station 5 on Congress Avenue and a new Fire Station 8 to serve the Ibis community, where the fire station now is in a trailer.
But some residents have complained that it's just another financial burden at a time when they can least afford it. And Kimberly Mitchell, returned by voters to her District 3 commission seat and to be sworn in before the vote on the tax, is against it, saying the city needs to rein in spending throughout its budget before it considers such a charge.
A rule of thumb for responsible government spending, she said, is for no more than 80 percent of property tax revenue to be spent on police and fire. West Palm Beach spends 93 percent on those departments, she said.
This money might be set aside for the fire department, but Mitchell called it "just another tax."
"They don't always need more, but they always want more because you're never going to give up what you already have," she said. "It's always another and another."
Other commissioners support the measure.
After they originally agreed to a tentative rate of $20 per house, Commissioner Bill Moss pushed for an increase to $25 so that the city could pay for a new station for Ibis.
"I hope that everybody would see the need and would understand that we're trying to provide the best public safety we can," he said. "And for $2 a month, it's well worth it."
The fire department's budget has increased 51 percent since 2002.
At Station 4, on Parker Avenue south of Okeechobee Boulevard, interim Fire Chief Phil Webb points to the makeshift shelves in the garage used for storage and to the cubicle-style walls in the dorm retrofitted for more people than it was originally designed for.
And no small matter is the age of the firetrucks, he said. They were bought in 2000, and the typical life span is 10 years. New ones will cost $400,000 to $450,000 apiece.
"We have seven of the same age, and in a year and a half they need to be replaced," he said.
At Fire Station 5 south of Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard, firefighters have complained about problems breathing ever since hurricanes hit, Webb said. Even after renovations and tests revealing no mold spores or other contaminants in the air, the complaints persist.
Commissioner Jeri Muoio, who represents the western part of town and lives in Ibis, said the tax only makes sense. And if it's meant for capital costs, Ibis should be included.
"It's hard to get services out here," she said. "And we are really concerned about making sure that we have coverage."
IMAGINE IF THE SO DID THIS OR WPBPD? WE WOULD GET LAUGHED AT!
Listen to this article or download audio file.Click-2-Listen
By THOMAS R. COLLINS
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Friday, July 04, 2008
WEST PALM BEACH — When Fire Station 4 was built on Parker Avenue in 1961, the fire department put out fires. And that's all it did.
Today, the city department responds to medical calls and runs a much more complex operation.
Six fire department employees work at Station 4, compared to three when the building was new. Space is tight. There are more trucks - including a huge machine called an urban search and rescue truck, equipped with special devices used to deal with major building collapses and pulling people out of confined spaces.
The bottom line, fire officials say: We need a new station.
"It doesn't meet current standards," Assistant Chief Kenny Jones said this week.
And they say they'll probably need a fire tax to build it.
The department has pushed for a new fire tax for months, saying that to keep up with capital costs - such as new stations and new trucks - the money in the current budget might not be enough.
City commissioners are scheduled to vote on the tax July 28. They've already declared that the maximum will be $25 for each home and a few cents per square foot for other properties. Finance officials say it will generate $1.7 million a year, enough to give the city capacity to issue bonds for replacements for Fire Station 4 and Fire Station 5 on Congress Avenue and a new Fire Station 8 to serve the Ibis community, where the fire station now is in a trailer.
But some residents have complained that it's just another financial burden at a time when they can least afford it. And Kimberly Mitchell, returned by voters to her District 3 commission seat and to be sworn in before the vote on the tax, is against it, saying the city needs to rein in spending throughout its budget before it considers such a charge.
A rule of thumb for responsible government spending, she said, is for no more than 80 percent of property tax revenue to be spent on police and fire. West Palm Beach spends 93 percent on those departments, she said.
This money might be set aside for the fire department, but Mitchell called it "just another tax."
"They don't always need more, but they always want more because you're never going to give up what you already have," she said. "It's always another and another."
Other commissioners support the measure.
After they originally agreed to a tentative rate of $20 per house, Commissioner Bill Moss pushed for an increase to $25 so that the city could pay for a new station for Ibis.
"I hope that everybody would see the need and would understand that we're trying to provide the best public safety we can," he said. "And for $2 a month, it's well worth it."
The fire department's budget has increased 51 percent since 2002.
At Station 4, on Parker Avenue south of Okeechobee Boulevard, interim Fire Chief Phil Webb points to the makeshift shelves in the garage used for storage and to the cubicle-style walls in the dorm retrofitted for more people than it was originally designed for.
And no small matter is the age of the firetrucks, he said. They were bought in 2000, and the typical life span is 10 years. New ones will cost $400,000 to $450,000 apiece.
"We have seven of the same age, and in a year and a half they need to be replaced," he said.
At Fire Station 5 south of Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard, firefighters have complained about problems breathing ever since hurricanes hit, Webb said. Even after renovations and tests revealing no mold spores or other contaminants in the air, the complaints persist.
Commissioner Jeri Muoio, who represents the western part of town and lives in Ibis, said the tax only makes sense. And if it's meant for capital costs, Ibis should be included.
"It's hard to get services out here," she said. "And we are really concerned about making sure that we have coverage."
IMAGINE IF THE SO DID THIS OR WPBPD? WE WOULD GET LAUGHED AT!