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Sam Turgeon

Zephyrhills considers fire department merger

July 10, 2019 By Kevin Weiss

After nearly 60 years of operation and tradition, the Zephyrhills Fire Department may soon be absorbed by Pasco County Fire Rescue.

As funding and staffing issues mount within the city’s fire department, the Zephyrhills City Council on July 1 unanimously directed city staff to begin formal negotiations to consolidate the local agency with Pasco County Fire Rescue.

The City of Zephyrhills will enter formal negotiations with Pasco County to merge Zephyrhills Fire Department into Pasco County Fire Rescue. Any consolidation agreement would need to be approved by the Zephyrhills City Council. (Kevin Weiss)

If the merger occurs, Pasco County Fire Rescue would operate the city’s two fire stations and would absorb the city’s fire department personnel at their proper pay step, Zephyrhills City Manager Billy Poe said. The county would ensure and maintain additional staffing needs at both stations and place an ambulance within the city limits.

The merger is anticipated to be “revenue neutral,” meaning it would not cost either entity any money, Poe said. The county can operate at lower costs because of economies of scale, Poe explained.

The merger negotiations follow attempts by Zephyrhills leaders to find ways to address the fire department’s rising costs.

The fire department budget this year is $3.3 million — up nearly $900,000 from 2016, according to a city manager memo to the city council. Those costs are expected to rise over time.

One option would be to levy a fire fee assessment through annual property tax bills — affecting commercial and residential properties, and churches and nonprofits. But, Zephyrhills residents and business leaders vehemently opposed that idea during public comment .

“We have to look at what is the best for overall,” said Kevin Bahr, owner of Bahr’s Propane Gas & A/C in Zephyrhills. “I work for a few nonprofits, to sit there and say they’re going to pay…and we’re going to have every one of the churches in town (pay), I don’t think they have any earthly idea that they’re fixing to start paying a fire assessment fee.”

With a merger, Zephyrhills property owners would pay for county fire rescue services through a Municipal Service Taxing Unit, or MSTU. Generally, an MSTU for fire services would have less financial impact on city residents and commercial entities than a fire assessment fee, city officials say.

Bingham Realty president Will Bingham represents owners of about 250 residential multi-unit properties in Zephyrhills. He said a fire assessment would have a significant impact, and appears unreasonable. “You’re looking at rents going up.”

Sunlight Realty real estate agent Sam Turgeon also opposes the idea of a fire assessment fee.

“I don’t think that’s sustainable. It’s definitely not fair and it’s definitely unaffordable for the city,” Turgeon said.

He supports the proposed merger.

“You’re going to have more people able to go on more calls that are going to serve our community better,” he said. “We’ve heard repeatedly that this fire department is understaffed, which also means that it’s underfunded. Our community is growing rapidly and, because of that, our city does not have enough money to sustain the fire department in its current form. If we leave our fire department understaffed, that’s dangerous for our citizens and it’s dangerous for our firefighters.”

Greater Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce director Melonie Monson also weighed in regarding the potential impact a fire assessment fee would have on the nearly 500 businesses she represents.

Monson warned the council: “There will be many that will not be able to take on the cost, so you may lose businesses with the fee. Think about how much it’s going to tax our businesses.”
The Zephyrhills Fire Department deferred public comment to firefighter union leader Travis Geiger.

Geiger pleaded the council to find a way to maintain the city’s fire department. He expressed concern about the loss of local control and predicted a difficult transition in merging the two departments because the positions are not equivalent.

“If you look at it from our perspective, we feel that we’re being pushed out. We’re not choosing to go over there,” Geiger said.

City manager Poe told council members: “If the decision is to keep the department, we have to charge a fire assessment fee, and we have to hire additional staff to meet the minimum safety standards. If we don’t do that, the only other option is to merge with Pasco County and do the very best that we can to make sure the (city fire department) employees that are transferring over are not adversely impacted.”

Zephyrhills city attorney Matthew Maggard concurred with Poe’s assessment.

“I don’t think anybody wants to see our fire department go away from an emotional or pride standpoint, but financially you have to look at it. We can’t sustain going forward, and I don’t think there’s any dispute with that,” Maggard said.

City Council member Lance Smith voiced concerns about the city fire department’s “long-term viability,” and added, “the logical conclusion is we’ve got to merge with the county.”

Zephyrhills Mayor Gene Whitfield agreed: “I think we have to look at sustainability.”

Councilwoman Jodi Wilkeson put it like this: “If it were only up to me, I would spend the money in a heartbeat. But, I’m representing all of these people who have reservations about the cost. None of them want to lose our firefighters. It is the question, ‘Can we afford it?’”

City Council member Alan Knight was the most vocal about trying to find a way to keep the department. One possibility would be to increase the millage rate, he said.

“Once we lose our fire department, we aren’t getting it back,” Knight said.

Published July 10, 2019

Filed Under: Local News, Zephyrhills/East Pasco News Tagged With: Alan Knight, Bahr's Propane Gas & A/C, Billy Poe, Bingham Realty, ephyrhills Fire Department, Gene Whitfield, Greater Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce, Jodi Wilkeson, Kevin Bahr, Lance Smith, Matthew Maggard, Melonie Monson, Pasco County Fire Rescue, Sam Turgeon, Sunlight Realty, Travis Geiger, Will Bingham, Zephyrhills City Council

Affordable, available housing helps Wesley Chapel earn national spotlight

February 27, 2014 By Michael Hinman

There’s never a shortage of “best” lists circulating the Internet, ranking cities, beaches, hotels, schools … whatever might be good for marketing people. Typically, however, these lists are as scientific as the ones David Letterman might use in his “Top 10” comedy bit on “Late Show.”

Even before the housing industry fully recovered, Wesley Chapel and its surrounding areas were already breaking ground on new houses and new neighborhoods, all in an effort to keep up with demand of people wanting to live in the area. (File photo)
Even before the housing industry fully recovered, Wesley Chapel and its surrounding areas were already breaking ground on new houses and new neighborhoods, all in an effort to keep up with demand of people wanting to live in the area. (File photo)

A new list released last week, however, compared some real numbers important to people looking for a place to settle down: availability of good homes that are affordable in an area with solid growth. And one of the areas that have excelled in all these categories is very close to home: Wesley Chapel.

The designation comes from NerdWallet, a San Francisco-based online financial services advice company that is run by, for a lack of a better term, nerds. Wesley Chapel was compared against nearly 180 other areas towns, cities and areas in Florida, and ranked the fourth best area for homeownership in Florida.

“The beauty of Wesley Chapel is that everything you need is right here,” said Hope Allen, the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce’s executive director. “Here you have a world class hospital, a fabulous shopping and dining experience, and it’s a great place to buy a home.”

Amenities are important, of course. But NerdWallet was paying close attention to slightly different questions: Are homes available? Can people afford to live there? And is the area growing?

The answer to all three questions was a resounding yes for Wesley Chapel. The median monthly income for residents in the area is $6,153, but housing costs are just under $1,700. That means people in Wesley Chapel are spending just 27 percent of their income on housing, a number that would make any statistician smile.

“Homeowner costs and the percentage of household income is a really important measure,” said Maggie Clark, an analyst with NerdWallet who worked the numbers for the Florida study. “Generally, anything under 30 percent is considered affordable.”

The area also had population growth of nearly 11 percent in a two-year period between 2010 and 2012, second only to Jacksonville’s Oakleaf Plantation, which also finished at the top of the overall survey.

And affordability is key to attracting new residents, not just from the Tampa Bay area, but beyond.

Sam Turgeon, a broker and owner of Sunlight Realty in Lutz, said his home state of Connecticut is feeling the pinch of higher taxes and homes that are being priced out of many people’s range.

“Many of them are hitting retirement age and realize very quickly they can’t afford to live there on the pension and savings they have,” Turgeon said. “People started doing the math, and realized that they were going to outlast their money. So they’re selling their houses up there, and coming down here. And I think that is good.”

The only area in the Tampa Bay region that finished higher than Wesley Chapel was the Keystone area, located just outside of Odessa in Hillsborough County, at No. 2. Housing there is a bit more expensive — nearly $2,400 a month — but income is a little higher too at nearly $8,900 monthly.

What really pushed Keystone over the top, however, was the fact that 94 percent of its residents own their home, compared to just 75 percent in Wesley Chapel. In fact, the only other area that even came close to the high ownership rate was Jacksonville’s Fruit Cove area, which chalks up a 90 percent rate.

Yet a good mixture of owned homes and rental options means a solid, diverse community. It also means that someone looking to call Wesley Chapel home can do it whether they want to own a home, or just rent one. And when renters are ready to invest in a new home, they’ll likely stick with the area they’ve already been spending time in.

“Pasco County is just an attractive place to live,” Turgeon said. “The taxes are far less because you’re not in the middle of a city, you still have access to anything you might need, and you don’t have that same overhead cost as you would in Hillsborough.”

And Wesley Chapel will only continue to grow. More than 12,000 homes are ready to be added to the mix, the chamber’s Allen said, and statewide polls like the NerdWallet one can help make those homes fill up even faster.

“It’s another great highlight of the area,” Allen said. “You can tout something like this to people who are looking to grow and expand business in Wesley Chapel because their work force can have affordable housing with all the amenities.

“This is just another notch in our belt in getting more business here.”

To read the complete study from NerdWallet, click here.

Published Feb. 26, 2014.

Filed Under: Local News, News Stories, Top Story, Wesley Chapel/New Tampa News Tagged With: Connecticut, David Letterman, Florida, Fruit Cove, Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce, Hope Allen, Keystone, Late Show, Lutz, Maggie Clark, NerdWallet, Oakleaf Plantation, Odessa, Sam Turgeon, San Francisco, Sunlight Realty, Tampa Bay, Wesley Chapel

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