The Laker/Lutz News

Travis Geiger

Zephyrhills approves fire department consolidation

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After more than 100 years of tradition and service, the Zephyrhills Fire Department soon will be no more.

Its operations are expected to be consolidated in September, into Pasco County Fire Rescue.

Under the merger, Pasco Fire Rescue would operate the city’s two fire stations and hire all 25 of the city’s fire rescue personnel at their proper pay step, pending background checks. The county agency would ensure and maintain additional staffing needs at both stations, and place an ambulance within the city limits. (Courtesy of Pasco County Fire Rescue)

The Zephyrhills City Council unanimously approved an interlocal agreement with Pasco County to provide fire suppression/first responder services to the municipality. The action came during an April 27 virtual council meeting.

Per the agreement, Pasco Fire Rescue would operate the city’s two fire stations and hire all 25 of the city’s fire rescue personnel at their proper pay step. The county agency would ensure and maintain additional staffing needs at both stations, and place an ambulance within the city limits.

The agreement calls for a 20-year term, with automatic 20-year renewals, unless the city or county provides written notice at least a year prior to the end of a term.

For a merger to take effect, the Pasco County Commission must approve a corresponding agreement. Also, consenting ordinances allowing the county to charge city residents an MSTU (Municipal Service Taxing Unit) for firefighter services will need to be passed at a later date.

Under the agreement:

  • Zephyrhills will continue to handle plans review, fire and building code administration, and annual inspections
  • Zephyrhills will provide Pasco with final approved as-built plans for any new commercial construction
  • Pasco will provide a water usage report to Zephyrhills for any water used through city hydrants
  • Should Pasco not utilize a city station as an operational fire station, Zephyrhills will have the first right of refusal to purchase the property back at its then assessed value
  • Zephyrhills will allow Pasco Fire Rescue housed at Station 25 to use the City Hall parking lot

The agreement also gives transferred city fire rescue employees the option to remain in the Zephyrhills fire stations for six months. After that, each employee will be required to bid to stay in the local stations.

Under the terms, Zephyrhills also agrees to conduct soil remediation at the downtown fire station, if required by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

Separately, the city has agreed to waive any employee tuition reimbursement requirements.

It also has agreed to pay each current Zephyrhills fire rescue union member 50% of remaining sick time above 120 hours that is being transferred to Pasco, and to award all vacation time up to 500 hours and all accrued comp time.

The agreement (as well as extended employee benefits) will cost the city roughly $5.5 million total and will generally be spread out over a period of seven years, Zephyrhills City Manager Billy Poe said.

The Zephyrhills City Council unanimously approved an interlocal agreement that will allow the city’s fire department to be consolidated by Pasco County Fire Rescue. The merger is expected to occur in September. (File)

After fiscal year 2027, the city won’t have to pay the county for fire rescue services — as it’d be solely propped up by an MSTU assessed to city residents and commercial entities, similar to how Dade City receives such services.

For comparison’s sake, the city’s fire department budget the last two years was $3.3 million in fiscal year 2019 and $2.8 million in fiscal year 2020 — nearly totaling the amount the city is prepared to pay the county to take fire rescue operations off its hands in perpetuity.

The fate of the local fire department had been coming for some time.

Besides a ballooning annual budget, Zephyrhills Fire Rescue battled personnel turnover, staffing shortages and outdated equipment over the years.

Also, the city hasn’t had a fire chief for over 18 months, instead splitting those duties among  three battalion chiefs.

Following formal negotiations with the county that been ongoing since last July, Zephyrhills leaders now feel they have an agreement that takes care of the city’s firefighters, enhances fire rescue services for the community and minimizes the city’s costs.

Council president Ken Burgess described the merger as “a difficult, momentous, emotional day for the city.”

He added: “I think we can look at it as a positive moving forward for the city’s firefighters and everyone involved.”

Fellow council members echoed similar sentiments.

Councilwoman Jodi Wilkeson said, “We really feel like we negotiated the very best possible deal for the firefighters. I don’t think any of us are happy about the fact that we’re losing what’s a 100-year tradition for our community, but the bottom-line line is that our long-term fiscal health for the city was dependent upon this merger.”

Councilman Charlie Proctor pointed out, under the merger, the city’s two firehouses finally will be at full staff and will have transport units. That’s something, he said, the city has not had for decades.

“I believe the end result was fair for everybody, and I also believe in the long run the citizens will be served more safely,” Proctor said.

Zephyrhills firefighter union president Travis Geiger, who was heavily involved In negotiations, said union membership supported the merger by a supermajority vote and is “on the same page” with the city’s consolidation plan.

“It’s been quite the journey,” Geiger said.

The entire process required “much discussion, and back and forth, and headaches and everything else,” he said.

The history of the city’s fire department dates back to 1915, when it started as a volunteer organization. Since the 1970s, it has had a paid professional staff.

To preserve a sliver of that history through the consolidation, city officials said fire engines and vehicles will have signage along the lines of “Proudly Serving Zephyrhills,” even though equipment will now be owned and operated by Pasco Fire Rescue.

Published May 06, 2020

Fire department merger talks continue

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The Zephyrhills Fire Department soon could consolidate into Pasco County Fire Rescue, but myriad issues are still being negotiated.

The Zephyrhills City Council held a March 2 workshop to review a county-drafted interlocal agreement that would provide fire suppression/first responder services for the municipality.

Under the agreement, Pasco Fire Rescue would operate the city’s two fire stations and would absorb the city’s fire department personnel at their proper pay step. The county agency would ensure and maintain additional staffing needs at both stations and place an ambulance within the city limits.

The negotiations are a result of a unanimous council decision last July to direct city staff to begin formal consolidation talks with Pasco County Fire Rescue.

The City of Zephyrhills is in negotiation with Pasco County regarding a proposal for the Zephyrhills Fire Department to become part of Pasco County Fire Rescue. The Zephyrhills City Council would need to approve any consolidation agreement. (File)

The impending merger is due in part to funding and staffing issues that have plagued the city’s fire department for several years.

With a merger, Zephyrhills property owners would pay for county fire rescue services through a Municipal Service Taxing Unit, or MSTU.

City officials say that an MSTU for fire services is expected to have less financial impact on city residents and commercial entities than a fire assessment fee.

During the 90-minute workshop, however, city leaders expressed reservations about several aspects of the drafted proposal.

One of the larger concerns involves the amount of leave hours that a Zephyrhills Fire Department employee would be allowed to transfer to the county.

Based on the agreement, the Zephyrhills fire employee could transfer a maximum of 48 hours of annual and sick leave to the county.

Zephyrhills firefighter union leader Travis Geiger and city staff both object to that limit.

Geiger is a 13-year Zephyrhills fire veteran with more than 1,000 hours of vacation and sick leave on the books.

“Some of us have accumulated a lot of hours, and now we’re not going to have that,” Geiger told the council.

“For me to go over and now suddenly have only 48 hours and be a 13-year employee, I do feel like there’s a certain amount of time off that I’ve earned, that when I want to take a day off, I would like to be able to take that day off; that’s part of the longevity, and that goes for anybody,” he said.

Geiger said he understands the county’s point of view — a concern that Zephyrhills fire employees would “just take a bunch of time off” when they move over to Pasco Fire Rescue.

He suggested that city staff negotiate for 50% of what each Zephyrhills fire employee has accumulated.

“It seems like an easy number,” Geiger said. “I’m not taking all of it…but, it gives me a little bit of cushion.”

Issues remain unresolved
Another concern involves the proposed requirement that a Zephyrhills fire employee must have eight years of service with the county before receiving retiree group health care.

That requirement would pose a problem for four Zephyrhills fire employees, who’ve been with the city for more than 20 years and have less than five years to go until earning retirement status.

Geiger said he believes there’s “some amount of wiggle room” for the county to take care of the longest-tenured employees on a case-by-case basis.

“We’re trying to reduce that eight years,” Geiger said. “The eight years was a number (the county) pulled out of the sky.

Zephyrhills firefighter union leader Travis Geiger addresses the Zephyrhills City Council at a March 2 workshop regarding consolidation negotiations with the Zephyrhills Fire Department and Pasco County Fire Rescue. (Kevin Weiss)

“I think they’re willing to lower that number again,” he said, and he thinks “their concern is they don’t want people to work for a day and quit.”

Zephyrhills City Manager Billy Poe also had some issues.

He pointed out various financial errors in the agreement — such as how the city isn’t properly credited for transferring over fleet and equipment to the county, which he said could mean a net positive swing of at least several hundred thousands of dollars.

The city manager also questioned a “Public Service Answering Point” charge, which states the city must pay the county $17.47 for each emergency 911 call for medical/fire rescue services. Based on the roughly 4,000 calls the city had last year, that would equate to about a $70,000 charge each year, Poe said.

“That number may be justified,” Poe said, but he needs to see the breakdown of where the costs are coming from.

Another issue that needs further discussion involves the county’s push to handle plan reviews for all new construction within city limits, Poe said.

The city has an in-house building official.

Poe said he understands the county’s perspective, as its firefighters would be the ones going into various building structures.

But, he said, “we want to be able to control the development and the pace of development and the timeframes that these plans are approved.”

City council president Ken Burgess agreed: “We don’t want our development at the mercy of somebody else’s department, so we need to make sure we find a solution for that.”

Elsewhere, the city is seeking a 20-year contract with automatic renewals with the county, as opposed to a 15-year agreement with automatic renewals the county has proposed.

The city also wants more information from the county on such issues as: the costs for Pasco Fire Rescue to conduct home assists for city residents (helping someone who’s fallen to the floor and can’t get up); and costs to cover special events, like Pigz in Z’Hills BBQ & Blues Fest and the Founders Day Parade and Heritage Festival.

City staff will again meet with county fire leadership on March 11.

The hope is to have a finalized agreement in place by June, nearly a year after the council directed staff to begin formal negotiations.

Burgess put the status of negotiations like this: “It seems like it’s taking a long time, which it is, but I can see why it’s taking a long time, too, because we’re just having to go back and forth.

“As we said from the beginning, we want to look for as close to a perfect solution as we can get, and knowing that all sides are going to have to give a little somewhere to achieve that.”

Councilman Alan Knight added the impending fire department merger is “maybe the biggest step this council has taken in a long time.”

He asked negotiators to protect the city and the interest of the firefighters, as they continue their discussions.

Published March 11, 2020

Zephyrhills considers fire department merger

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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