Fire protection on Pensacola Beach is costly. At the May 1 Escambia County Commission meeting Chairman Mike Kohler said the County has been operating the fire station on Pensacola Beach at a deficit of over $1 million annually.
Residents on the beach currently pay a fire Municipal Services Benefit Unit (MSBU) of $201 and businesses are assessed 7 cents per square foot. The County has proposed to increase the residential MSBU to $454 and the commercial MSBU to 83 cents per square foot. That is a 1053 percent increase for Beach businesses. Unimproved lots would be increased 218 percent to $203.
The County also plans to increase the Mainland residents and businesses, which are paying far less than island residents. Mainland residents would go from $125 to $226; businesses from 5 cents to 10 cents per square foot. Unimproved lots would be increased 162 percent to $39.
Escambia County Commissioner Ashlee Hofberger, whose District 4 includes Pensacola Beach, staunchly supports one rate for all citizens in the County. Her proposal sets the rate for residents at $223 and businesses at 11 cents per square foot. Unimproved lots would pay $54.
Beach residents and business owners crowded the Commission chambers, with the Pensacola Beach Advocates President Rhonda Dorfman, Pensacola Beach Chamber Chairman Rhea Kessler and the Santa Rosa Island Authority elected representative Jeremy Johnson among the 16 speakers. The message was clear. They support the first responders and realize that an increase is necessary. They were protesting the inequitable increases, particularly to the business MSBU, labeling it “unfair,” “devastating,” and “prejudicial.”
Johnson, who is a beach resident and serves as the Chairman of the SRIA, said, “We are all citizens of Escambia County and as such should shoulder the responsibility equally. I support our first responders and the MSBU rate should be the same countywide. We’re not asking to avoid responsibility—we’re asking for balance. I urge the board to consider how this burden is shared, and to ensure that any increase is distributed fairly across all benefiting areas.”
Kessler, representing 300 Chamber member businesses, added that the proposed rate threatens the survival of beach businesses. “It is not an increase, it is a breaking point,” she said.
Dorfman, whose PBA represents mostly residents also went to bat for the business community. She said, “The inequity and inequality of the rates you charge beach businesses per square foot versus mainland businesses is egregious. The Beach generates so much revenue and income for this County, yet all you want to do is to stick it to the people who live out there and to the businesses who serve out there. Enough is enough. Reduce the beach MSBU so that all residents are paying the same price. Be the responsible county commissioners you want your voters to think you are.”
County Commissioners discussed additional ways to make the beach shoulder the financial burden. The Santa Rosa Island Authority currently contributes $206,000 annually to offset the costs of fire protection on Pensacola Beach. Kohler noted that he discussed raising that amount with SRIA Executive Director Mike Burns.
Commissioner Steven Barry said what’s fair is not always equal. He said an additional crew was added to the beach fire station and the County did not raise the rates nor ask the SRIA for more money. He said the Beach is getting superior service, but admitted the proposed commercial increase was “tremendous.” In referencing getting more funding from the SRIA he said that they need to subsidize that side of the equation.
Commissioner Steve Stroberger also spoke with Burns about adding a $2-$3 surcharge on hotel night stays for fire protection. According to Stroberger, Burns thought the SRIA could find a way to do that.
The Beach’s Commissioner Ashlee Hofberger said that the Board had been provided information about the gap in covering the costs at the Beach fire station but had not been shown the $10 million deficit that exists on the Mainland. She also told her Board members that there is a legal requirement to prove that the higher MSBU is the result of greater benefits, over and beyond what is being provided on the Mainland. She contends the benefits are the same. She challenged other commissioners to look at the facts, and to study the fire call response times particularly when a second truck is needed in their districts. Hofberger says they will not be able to prove that the beach gets superior fire service.
Escambia County Attorney Alison Rogers reminded her Board that they must prove the nexus between the MSBU and the benefiting service it supports.
Commissioners wanted more information, discussion and input on the topic, and did not know if they were under time constraints for budgeting purposes.
Hofberger presented earlier in the day at the Commission’s May 1 Committee of the Whole meeting a $34 million plan to build two new fire stations, replace two existing fire stations, and refurbish another. The funding would come from available Local Option Sales Taxes. Her fellow Commissioners were supportive.
The Escambia Commissioners did not reach consensus on the fire MSBU discussion. Kohler, who noted that the SRIA meets on May 14, asked that the MSBU discussion be placed on the BCC May 15 agenda.