Citrus County residents will likely need to kick in for a higher fire district millage rate to help bring the county up to adequate fire protection coverage.

That was the consensus of the Board of County Commissioners today during its regular meeting in Inverness.

Discussion was begun by some Floral City residents, who complained to commissioners that the city wasn't adequately covered for fire protection. Floral City resident Nancy Curtain said the city lacked fire coverage. "We have to depend on Hernando, Sumter counties and Inverness," she said. "If anything happens, we're in serious trouble. They have demoted firemen. If our insurance find out we have no fire protection, our insurance will go up or insurance will be canceled," she said.

County Administrator Brad Thorpe said the county staff an Citrus County Fire Chief Larry Morabito have talked with Floral City residents about the problem. Thorpe noted that, for the current fiscal year, it is a budget problem to come up with money to fix Floral City's problem, and added, "Fire insurance is based on countywide coverage. We have two stations that function - most of the rest between three and eight volunteers per station."

Morabito also said that the reassignment of a "demoted" fireman in Floral City was more of a reassignment of duties, and was done after discussions with that fireman.

Morabito said that the Floral City fire station has not been closed. He did say, however, the county fire service is short on volunteers, and they come and go - in effect, creating a revolving door. "One of the realities is that many of our volunteers are getting older and unable to function because of the physical demands of the job."

In all, the county has 36 volunteer firefighters, Morabito said, who must cover a 24/7 period.

County Commissioner John Thrumston said he has seen the lack of proper fire coverage coming for some time now. "As I said before, this is a sleeping dog that is ready to wake up. It's a safety-health issue," Thrumston said. It's not just Floral City - it's Hernando. It's all over the county. I hope incoming board funds this, because there's no other way around it. The state mandates requirements for volunteers - but people don't put in 200 hours of training to only get paid $10 per call. The volunteer system just isn't working anymore because of state mandates and requirements for volunteers."

Another Floral City resident expressed his exasperation with his city's plight. "I don't understand the problem," said Paul Vargoshe. "This is life-safety issue. Somebody could die tomorrow. That's not acceptable. It's not roads and septic systems. 'Next year' is not good enough," he said. "Something needs to be done. I don't blame the fire chief. He can't produce what we doesn't have the funds to produce. We need fire protection now - not next year, not in the 'long term'."

But the caveat for improving fire service throughout the county is the lack of funding and declining county revenues. The current fire district millage currently stands at about one-half mill. And there was discussion among commissioners to raise the millage rate to the maximum-allowed rate of 1 mill.

That would require a voter referendum to enact, County Attorney Richard Wesch noted.

Just to fix the Floral City fire protection problem, Morabito said, would cost about $500,000. And Thorpe said that any increase in the millage wouldn't have any effect on revenue to improve county fire service until the beginning of the next fiscal year, which is Oct. 1, 2011. "We caught in a struggle between keeping government small and raising taxes," Thorpe said.

Commissioner Gary Bartell said the county's fire protection needs to be addressed, but added, "Public safety shouldn't be put on the chopping block."

Commissioner Joe Meek said, "We're looking at two issues: Immediate need (short-term) and a sustainable revenue source (long-term). There are only 36 firefighters and 24/7 coverage."

Morabito said things couldn't be fixed just by moving firefighters from one part of the county to another. "No way to do it, other than adding people. It's a balancing act." He also said that Floral City isn't a case of "no coverage," but rather a case of "under-covered."

Commissioners tasked Morabito to return to the commission in December and to have dollar figures attached to the chief's five-year fire protection plan.

"It's my job to ensure the public is safe," Morabito said.

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