Alachua may save $200,000 on county fire contract

The City of Alachua could save more than $200,000 over last year on a fire services contract with Alachua County.

City commissioners in Alachua approved an amended interlocal agreement between the city and county for fire and rescue services at $475,000, well below the $677,000 the city paid the county for the same services last year.  But the amended agreement is far from final.

City officials did meet and negotiate the terms of the agreement with county officials, but county commissioners have not yet formally considered the matter.

The payment for fire and emergency medical services would have been covered under an enhanced fire assessment fee on property tax bills.  City of Alachua commissioners, along with several other cities, approved the county-initiated fire assessment fee earlier this year.  But it was the county commission that failed to adopt the fire assessment fee.

And while the city of Alachua paid out nearly $700,000 for fire and rescue services for the 2009/10 fiscal year, the fire assessment fee on Alachua tax parcels would only have generated about $430,000 in the 2010/11 fiscal year.  The city had planned to pitch in approximately $25,000 more to cover properties which were exempt from the proposed fee.

When county commissioners began wavering on their support for the fire assessment at a July meeting, Alachua commissioner Ben Boukari, Jr. told the county commission, “How can you come to us and say it’s going to cost us more than the $430,000 that you said it’s going to cost our citizens for fire services?” Boukari said.

“How can you come to us with $670,000 again?”

Assistant City Manager Danielle Judd told commissioners Monday that the city had already budgeted and adopted the property tax millage rate to include just $475,000 for the fire and rescue services. City and county officials had several negotiation sessions to reach an agreement on the reduced contract fee.

Vice-Mayor Gary Hardacre said, “I’m glad we’re out of the fire, so to speak, for this year.” 

He also said he was interested in looking into the possibility of the city having its own fire services and working with other nearby cities to accomplish that.

Boukari thanked the City of High Springs for working with Alachua to find ways to fill any gaps in coverage in the event the county halted fire and rescue services.

County commissioners are expected to consider the amended agreement at a meeting later this month.