Citrus County Sheriff Jeff Dawsy has a new task - figure out what a combined law enforcement and fire services office would look like, and to come up with a budget for it.

Dawsy was given the task by the Citrus County Commission on Tuesday after commissioners voted 3-1 to accept the recommendations of the Public Safety Initiative Task Force, a creation of the county commission and populated by a cross-section of leading county business people and residents.

The aim of the task force was to look into the possibility of combining law enforcement, fire services and emergency medical services into one organization. The task force later decided to exclude EMS from consolidation, since it was a privately run company and was efficiently run.

Although commissioners gave Dawsy the task, three of them all denied that it was an endorsement of consolidating law enforcement and fire services.

Dawsy will have his hands full, and so will the county. The General Fund is $7 million short, and the revenues from the county fire district are $1.1 million short. Dawsy is working with Fire Chief Larry Morabito on developing budget figures to "make the department whole."

The problem with funding fire services was exacerbated when the commissioners voted later in Tuesday's meeting to reject an approved SAFER grant which would have provided about $3.8 million in federal monies over a two-year period for firefighters. The grant's caveat is that the county must pick up the funding in the third year, and County Administrator Brad Thorpe said the county likely won't have the money to cough up $1.4 million for the third year, as required by the grant's provisios.

All commissioners agreed that something needs to be done about fire services, and Dawsy will only have the county's current budget figures with which to work. "Change has been the watchword," said Commissioner Rebecca Bays. "We must weigh the level of service versus what we are willing to pay for. There is a lot of room for discussion. We've got to move the ball down the field."

Bays also tasked Dawsy to develop an organizational plan that wouldn't allow a co-mingling of budgets, and an agreement that would be treated like a contract, renewable at specified periods.

Bays and Commissioner JJ Kenney said they were not adverse to having the sheriff developing a plan and budget, but Kenney said needed more data before deciding whether to consolidate the two agencies. He added, "I don't this to become a protracted issue."

"This is not a vote for consolidation. It's a vote for information," Kenney said.

Commissioner Joe Meek, while acknowledging that the fire district millage rate might be needed to adequately fund fire services, said, "This is not about raising taxes, but improving services. Consolidation doesn't drive the funding." Meek also said the task force did see some value in consolidation.

Other funding mechanisms have also been suggested besides raising the fire millage rate - MSBU's (Municipal Service Benefit Unit) and MSTU's (Municipal Services Taxing Units).

A MSBU is ''a legal financing mechanism or method wherein the County establishes a special district to allow a group of citizens to fund a desired improvement, such as utilities or roads, by majority consensus (51%) of the approval of the property owners contained in the assessment area.'' The assessment boundary is determined by those properties that will derive a benefit from the improvements. This boundary by definition is called the ''benefit unit.''

MSTU's are geographic areas within the county created by ordinance and defined by specific boundaries. Property owners within these units pay for services that benefit their particular area. Revenue for MSTU work programs is produced by ad valorem (value) taxes. The millage rate is determined by dividing the cost of the annual work program by the taxable value of all properties within the unit.

Commissioner Winn Webb said he was against raising taxes any more than necessary, and that he saw little value in consolidation. "MSBU's/MBSTU's do matter. We're not going to save money up front."

"If you're going to do this," he told fellow commissioners, "you're going to have to pay for it."

Both Dawsy and Bays said that the county still doesn't have services for all citizens, and Bays said the county must find a way to fund it. Meek added, "If we do nothing, taxes will go up, and the problems will still remain."

Supporters and opponents of consolidation spoke during public comment.

Resident James Marsh said he had just paid his property taxes, noting that, "A whopping $28 went to the fire deparment - where did the rest of that money go to?" he asked.

Several task force members also were present at the meeting.

Randy Clark told commissioners, "We didn't accomplish what we were there to do," Clark said. He added that the county should have seen the fire services shortfall coming.

Task force member Carver Simpson said, "The bottom line is we have a funding shortfall. The whole thing is about money, and we're going to have to find the money for it.

The commission voted to proceed with the investigation into consolidation, and Dawsy should be back before the county commission with his plan and suggested budget on June 14, which is the first county commission meeting during that month.