Pinellas Suncoast Raise in Resident Fees a No-GoBy Leo CoughlinINDIAN ROCKS BEACH - The idea that the Pinellas Suncoast Fire and Rescue District would seek another fee increase has been strangled in its crib, according to reliable sources. There was talk that the district would once again go to the voters in a referendum and seek yet another increase in the yearly fee it charges residents in Belleair Beach, Belleair Shore, Indian Rocks Beach and a portion of the mainland. While fire departments in other jurisdictions come under the general budget formations of those cities and that money is funded by ad valorem taxes, PSF&R does not have that advantage. It is a unique set-up, created by the Legislature and with no control except by the Legislature and its five-person board. From the beginning, the district has always been funded by fees imposed on residents. For years, things went swimmingly and then several years ago, under Chief John Leahy, the district sought an increase and got it, mainly because voters probably thought it was overdue. But since then, every time the subject comes up, intense wrangling begins and a few years ago a citizens group got involved in looking into department operations. The latest increase, from $190 to $260 a year, was implemented in the present fiscal year, 2009-10. So when talk of another increase cropped up recently, it was quickly squelched. One informed source said that one of the board members proposed it "and tried to make a class warfare thing. Talk of an increase will just anger people." That is, all residential properties - from the most modest cottage in IRB to one of Belleair Shore's expensive mansions - pay the same. This obviously wrankles some people. Cooler heads prevailed. Tom Hafner, a board member from Belleair Beach, and Chief Russell Livernois recognized the move as a political non-starter, "especially in these times," the source said. Talk is that some PSF&R board members would like to have a scale of increase for the yearly fee based on personal income or the consumer price index. What the district would like is more autonomy where it can assess fees on some basis without going to referendum. That idea would have to face referendum most likely and would surely fail.
|