Myakka City Fire may merge with East Manatee. But first residents have to OK a new tax
Residents in the Myakka City will vote Tuesday on whether to a approve a new property tax that would allow for a proposed merger with the neighboring and much larger East Manatee Fire Rescue District.
Currently, those who live in the Myakka City Fire Control District, which is comprised of 230 square miles in southeastern Manatee County, only pay a non-ad valorem assessment.
Non-ad valorem assessments are calculated based on factors such as acreage, unlike an ad valorem, or property, tax, which is based on a property’s assessed value. The Myakka City Fire Control District has the highest non-valorem assessments in the county.
Yet the department has struggled for years to balance its budget, regularly having to tap into reserves.
“To support the two fire stations, we ask a lot of the public,” Myakka City Fire Chief Daniel Cacchiotti said.
The ballot referendum does not ask residents to approve the merger itself because voter approval is not required. However, because the East Manatee Fire District levies both an non-ad valorem assessment and a property tax, residents in Myakka have to approve the additional tax.
If approved, Myakka City residents would actually see a reduction in what they pay for fire services. Most residents could expect to save more than $100 a year, officials said.
That merger would go into effect on Oct. 1, 2021 — after it is approved by both fire districts’ board of commissioners, the county commission and the state legislature.
Benefits of potential merger
Officials promised that a merger would lead to better fire service for Myakka City.
“For the last 40 years we have been responding to Myakka whenever they needed help. This would make more of an automated response system that we would have between the two by merging into one entity,’’ said East Manatee Fire Chief Lee Whitehurst.
“It’s going to erase a boundary line and make things much more seamless than they are today, formalize the long-standing relationship we have with the Myakka City area.”
Without a merger, the Myakka City district would be forced to raise assessments to make up for budget shortfalls. In the current 2019-20 fiscal year, the district has a $148,112.67 budget deficit.
The Myakka Fire Control District was created by the county in 1986 and today is the only fire district that is dependent on the county for some funding. The department has nine firefighters, one fire inspector, a chief and four active volunteer firefighters.
As part of an agreement with Myakka City Fire, Manatee County EMS staffs their department with six paramedics. That program will not change should a merger occur, according to Manatee County Public Safety Director Jacob Saur.
“Because of the distance out in Myakka for a normal ambulance, an advanced support ambulance, we put paramedics on an engine with Myakka City Fire Rescue so when you dial 911 out in Myakka, our paramedic that is on a Myakka fire engine can get there and start advanced life support before an ambulance can get there,” Saur said.
Myakka has two fire stations. The Wauchula Road station was built in 1994 and the second station, on State Road 70, was built in 2006 and also houses the district’s administrative offices.
Most of the department’s equipment has far outlived its expected lifespan. For example, teh department’s three brush trucks have an average age of 34 years old.
A merger, officials said. would allow for the purchase of new equipment that would be staffed with more firefighter; better training; higher pay and other benefits for firefighters; and better working conditions.
Cacchiotti, whoretired in 2015, agreed to return to his position as chief on interim basis after his successor left department after only seven months on the job. Hoping to retire for good, Cacchiotti said he first wants to resolve the department’s financial woes.
“I would like to retire knowing that community is in good hands and taken care,” Cacchiotti said. “For the folks out there, I ask that they know the facts, get informed and please vote on the referendum.”
