Florida State Representative Adam Botana plans to author a local Bill that would merge the Fort Myers Beach Fire District into Bonita Springs. The goal of the merger, he says, would be to save taxpayer money by consolidating redundant positions. Botana says this will not affect coverage on the beach in any way.
Botana called Fort Myers Beach Fire Chief Scott Wirth, Bonita Springs Fire Chief Gregory DeWitt and Fort Myers Beach Mayor Dan Allers this past Friday to alert them this was coming and to seek their support. Both fire districts then notified their staffs about the possible merger.
There are 17 separate fire districts in Lee County. Across the state there are only four other counties with more than one fire district. The Florida State Legislature has the power to dissolve or merge special districts. This merger would start with a local Bill that Botana plans to propose by October 16th. The local delegation of House and Senate members would then hear public input and vote on Botana’s Bill at its meeting on October 30th at Florida Southwestern State College on College Parkway in Fort Myers. If more than 50% of the delegation approve the Bill, it goes through the committee process in the House. If it comes out of committee, the full House then Senate would then vote on the Bill before it goes to the Governor.
The Florida delegation is chaired by Jenna Persons-Mulicka and includes Botana, Kathleen Passidomo, Mike Giallombardo, Jonathan Martin, Spencer Roach, Ben Albritton and Tiffany Esposito. The October 30th meeting is open to the public and streamed live. You can see the agenda HERE.
Botana told Beach Talk Radio News on Monday that “this has been coming for a long time.” He mentioned there being some issues with the number of Fire Chiefs on Fort Myers Beach (3 in recent years), the district’s plan to build a new training tower and he said there were some issues with the financials, but he was not specific. Botana said the storm brought things into perspective.
Both the Fort Myers Beach Fire District and the Bonita Fire District have 5 elected commissioners. If the two departments are merged, a new election would need to be held to elect 5 new Commissioners in which anyone from either municipality could run. Botana said, “We need to get rid of some of these special districts. We are a state of limited government.”
Fort Myers Beach Fire District now has 45 full-time employees and 1 part-time employee with several open positions. The Fort Myers Beach Fire District operating budget is $14.3 Million with reserves of $14.35 Million (reserves include insurance proceeds to fund replacement items lost during Hurricane Ian).
Bonita Springs Fire is staffed by 96 fire suppression personnel, including 61 paramedics and 35 emergency medical technicians. Of the 119 full-time personnel, 23 are 40-hour employees. The District also employs one part-time administrative position and has a budget of $29 Million.
Both Fort Myers Beach and Bonita Springs are their own taxing districts. It’s unknown how much money would be saved from a merger of the two districts. According to figures from the Lee County appraiser’s office, property value’s on Fort Myers Beach declined about 40% due to Hurricane Ian. That translated into $6 million less for the fire district. Despite the decline in property value’s, the Fire District Board held firm on the millage rate for 2023-2024 at $2.9851 per $1,000 of assessed property valuation.
Fort Myers Beach Fire Chief Scott Wirth says Botana never called him to discuss the merger before springing it on him this past Friday at 5:00. Wirth wondered why Botana didn’t try to meet with him and Chief DeWitt in Bonita Springs first to discuss merger options. “I’m not opposed to a more efficient operation,” Wirth told Beach Talk Radio News Monday. Wirth plans to speak at the October 30th local delegation meeting and propose a study be done to determine if a merger is better for both communities and if it actually saves taxpayer dollars. Wirth said there’s a Florida Statute that says imposed mergers must include a plan. He also admitted the Legislature doesn’t have to follow that statute and has the power to impose a merger.
The state recently allocated $14 million to the Fort Myers Beach Fire Control District to help the district recover from Hurricane Ian. The Botana plan will not have any impact on that money.
Part of Botana’s Bill will also include dissolving the Fort Myers Beach Mosquito District and moving that over to Lee County. The Fort Myers Beach Mosquito Board lost its building in Hurricane Ian and now meets in a trailer. The board also includes two members from the same family which Botana was critical of.
Botana must submit the paperwork for his Bill by October 16th for the local delegation to consider it on the 30th.
When asked if this could lead to a Bill to try to dissolve the Town of Fort Myers Beach and turn the beach back over to Lee County, Botana said “absolutely not.” He had high praise for the job the Fort Myers Beach Town Council is doing. He did say he would like to see the rebuild move along quicker.
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