A frustrated Leon County Commission voted 4-3 on Tuesday to challenge the City of Tallahassee’s request to increase the fire services fee with a proposal to cut $8.5 million in fire fund expenses. The proposal would reduce the amount of the fire service fee increase.
Commissioners Brian Welch, Rick Minor, Nick Maddox, and Carolyn Cummings voted for the proposal while Commissioners Christian Caban, David O’Keefe, and Bill Proctor voted no.
The vote came hours after a tense discussion about the proposed 22% increase in the fire service fee requested by the city due to increases in expenses not contemplated in the 2023 fire fee assessment.
The city’s request would increase residential rates for most county residents by approximately $4.00 per month.
The current rates went into effect on October 1, 2023, and were based on estimated costs at that time to provide fire services for the next five years (FY 2024 – FY 2028). However, unexpected expense increases relate to labor contracts, debt service, inflation, and new construction have resulted in a need for more revenue.
Leon County’s “counteroffer” requests the city cut $8.5 million in expenses related to the Insurance Services Office (ISO) Rating.
The ISO rating system evaluates a community’s fire protection capabilities which may impact insurance premiums for residential and commercial properties. Lower ISO ratings can reduce insurance costs for homes and businesses in a community through greater investment in staffing levels, training, equipment, fire prevention initiatives, and proper water availability and pressure. To achieve an ISO 2 rating in accordance with the City Commission’s 2025 Strategic Plan, the city finds that a minimum of 26 new FTEs will be needed beginning in FY 2026 in addition to funding for training programs and equipment. The projected cost to achieve the desired rating is an additional $4.5 million in FY 2026 and $8.5 million over the next three years.
County officials are basing their request to cut the ISO expense on the fact that the “costs were not contemplated in the current five-year assessment and should not be included in any calculation of a new assessment rate for the remainder of the five-year period.”
If the city does not accept the county’s offer, Leon County Commissioners indicated the next step would be to initiate the formal conflict resolution process.
It is anticipated that city would take up the issue at the next Tallahassee City Commission meeting scheduled for June 11.
Unexpected Expenses
On January 14, 2025, 15 months into the current five-year fire services assessment, the City notified the County that the revenue generated from the fire services assessment would not be sufficient to continue to provide fire services at the current service level and recommended an early review of the rates.
On February 12, 2025, the City projected the need to increase the fire assessment an estimated 20-25% by FY 2026 which will be the third year of the five-year assessment.
Provided below is information on fire fund expenditures contemplated in the 2023 Fire Assessment Study which have grown beyond the projected inflationary cost estimates for the five-year study period, and new costs identified by the City that were not contemplated in the 2023 Fire Assessment Study.
Collective Bargaining: $4.3M through FY 2027
The City and the Tallahassee Professional Fire Fighters International Association of Fire Fighters Local 2339 (IAFF) were scheduled to begin a new collective bargaining term on October 1, 2023, which would have aligned with the start of the current five-year fire assessment period. However, negotiations with the city stalled in 2023 and the IAFF requested a one-year bridge agreement. In December 2023, the IAFF declared an impasse on the bridge agreement which was later resolved through a Special Magistrate process. In February 2024, negotiations commenced on new bargaining agreements for both bargaining units (supervisory, and rank and file). On October 16, 2024, the City Commission approved the new collective bargaining agreements with the IAFF on wage and pension adjustments for the three-year period covering FY 2025 – FY 2027.
According to the city’s latest budget materials, the fiscal impact of the one-year bridge agreement (FY 2024) and the new three-year collective bargaining agreement (FY 2025 – FY 2027) is estimated to be an additional $4.3 million over what was contemplated in the development of the current five-year assessment rate. Insufficient funding is available through the Fire Services Assessment to support these additional expenditures, and the estimated fiscal impact does not include additional positions forecasted in the latest TFD staffing plan to support a new fire station, the expansion of another fire station, or a new Strategic Plan Goal adopted by the city commission to enhance TFD’s insurance ratings.
Construction Costs: Additional $17M for Fire Station #17; $10M+ for Fire Station #15; $2.6M for Personnel and Equipment
The 2023 Fire Assessment Study includes funding for the construction of Fire Station #17 on Lake Bradford Road and the expansion of Fire Station #15 on Bannerman Road. According to the city, the estimated cost to construct Fire Station #17 has doubled from $17 million in 2023 to $34 million in 2025. The initial estimate was provided to the consultant before the construction documents were finalized and did not include furniture, fixtures, or equipment costs. The city anticipates breaking ground on Fire Station #17 this summer so it can be operational by the end of FY 2026. The expansion of Fire Station #15 is in the planning phase and the initial $10 million cost estimate has not been revised since 2023. The city plans to break ground at Fire Station #15 in late FY 2026, to be completed in FY 2027.
Both fire stations will require funding to support personnel, equipment, and facility operating costs. According to the city, the hiring and training of personnel associated with these two capital projects began earlier this year, well in advance of the start of construction. The FY 2025 budget calls for the hiring of 12 Full Time Employees (FTEs) with an additional 24 FTEs planned for FY 2026. The estimated cost increase for the 24 FTEs and equipment is $2.6 million in FY 2026.
Insurance Services Office (ISO) Rating: $8.5M through FY 2028
On January 15, 2025, the city commission held its annual retreat and adopted a Strategic Plan Goal to improve the TFD’s ISO rating from ISO 3 to ISO 2. The ISO rating system evaluates a community’s fire protection capabilities which may impact insurance premiums for residential and commercial properties. Lower ISO ratings can reduce insurance costs for homes and businesses in a community through greater investment in staffing levels, training, equipment, fire prevention initiatives, and proper water availability and pressure. To achieve an ISO 2 rating in accordance with the City Commission’s 2025 Strategic Plan, the City finds that a minimum of 26 new FTEs will be needed beginning in FY 2026 in addition to funding for training programs and equipment.
By FY 2027, ISO would be invited to audit TFD operations and programs to determine whether an ISO 2 rating is warranted. Currently, the city is still analyzing any potential insurance cost savings for homes and businesses. The 26 new FTEs and equipment are projected to cost an additional $4.5 million in FY 2026 and $8.5 million over the next three years.
Debt Refinancing: $2.5M
In FY 2023, after the city provided the consultant with the TFD’s out-year budget assumptions to determine the five-year average assessment rates, the city refinanced existing debt related to fire services which resulted in an annual unbudgeted debt service payment of approximately $500,000, or $2.5 million over the five-year assessment period. The refinancing will realize long-term savings.
In the first two years of the current assessment period, approximately $1 million has been allocated for this debt service payment. The annual debt service payments are included in the consultant’s proposed assessment rate increases for the remainder of the five-year period.
Leon County Commission Seeks to Cut Fire Fund Expenses, Reduce Fee Increase added by Staff on
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The city is out of control. You cannot believe anything they tell you; they will look you in the eye and tell you a big fat lie without an ounce of shame.
Monies are too muddied with the City. By transferring so much cash from the utility annually and allowing it to become a de facto taxing mechanism, there little way to get a clear handle on exact what pays for what. My sense is they want to get ahead of the loss of property tax revenue. People need to own their homes, not be beholden to potential liens. This is the first of many financial issues coming.
The Residents and the IAFF were promised stable funding- now the City jeopardizes that trust. Where did the money really go?
Maybe if the City would stop spending Money on Projects they shouldn’t be spending it on such as, building Non-Affordable Housing, building Grocery Stores, building a City Bus Transfer Depot, giving Money to Airlines, you know, stuff like THAT. ALSO, isn’t each Bus Stop it’s own Transfer Depot?