5-16-16 Reg. Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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BK -00028 PG:0268 Summary In our meetings with the representatives from the fire departments, we verify that each department has either held their required public hearing or they have scheduled it. For the departments that have already held their public hearing, there was little or in most instances no public participation. As is part of our process each year, we go through the budget request and have discussions with the representatives from each of the fire departments. The Fire Advisory Board and the fire departments are aware that even though the economy is improving there are still families in Lee County who continue to struggle financially. We are also mindful that many of the citizens in Lee County are living on fixed incomes. The Fire Advisory Board, the Board of Directors for the fire departments, and all their volunteers are also tax payers and any increase in taxes impacts them, their families, friends, and neighbors. All of us on the Fire Advisory Board understand the enormous cost it takes to fund the fire service in Lee County. It goes without saying but still needs to be stated that the Fire Advisory Board applauds the fire departments on their efforts to minimize the cost to provide fire protection in Lee County. In Lee County, there are seven volunteer fire departments. They manage 11 fire stations, maintain over 50 apparatus, and include over 250 volunteer firefighters. The changes in the overall budget request for the fire service including the Fire Marshal's Office increased by $62,000 or 2.3% compared to the current year. The cost to operate the seven volunteer fire departments and the Fire Marshal's Office in Lee County is $2,447,961 for fiscal year 2016 - 2017. The cost to provide fire protection service on the $2.5 billion in property is more than offset with the insurance savings realized by the homeowners and businesses. The citizens and property owners in Lee County are fortunate that we live in a community where men and women are willing to volunteer their time to serve and protect. Being a volunteer firefighter requires many hours of training, the willingness to sacrifice time away from family in order to help a neighbor or stranger in their time of need. A special thanks to all our firefighters! As was mentioned several times in the department summaries, the decreases in the fund balance had major impacts on several department's tax rate. Unfortunately, the fund balance is an unknown variable each year. As we saw this year, it can change significantly from year to year. In 2015 - 2106 fund balance increases benefited several departments. This year the fund balance decreases drastically impacted the tax rate of some of the departments even if they had no increase in their budget request. The fire departments have no control over fund balances, collection rates, or changes in tax base. The Lee County Fire Advisory Board was faced with several difficult decisions as we deliberated the budgets this year, especially in light of the changes in the fund balances. Over the years, the members of the Fire Advisory Board have come to gain a good understanding of the requirements the fire departments face and the cost associated with the services they provide. This year was no different from the past nine years the Fire Advisory Board reviewed and made recommendations on the budgets to the Lee County Board of Commissioners. We all feel the burden that any increase in taxes has on the C