Summary
Bradford County Fire Chief presented scenarios showing a 10% department budget cut could eliminate a supervisor position and close stations, lengthening response times. Dozens of residents and firefighters urged the commission not to cut fire services during a lengthy public comment period.
Bradford County’s fire chief told commissioners that a 10% reduction to the fire and rescue operating budget would force the department to remove supervisory staff and close stations, lengthen response times and raise insurance costs for residents. The presentation drew an extended public comment period in which firefighters, their family members and municipal officials urged the board to preserve staffing and funding.
“I'm strongly opposed to any cuts to Bradford County Fire Rescue. Public safety is not a place for reductions,” Fire Chief Carter told the commission, laying out budget figures and options the department used to model a 10% cut.
Chief Carter said the department’s FY 2024–25 operating budget (excluding grants) stood at roughly $8,133,000; under that baseline, a 10% reduction would lower available resources to about $7,319,700. The proposed FY 2025–26 operating budget is listed in the presentation as $8,844,102; bringing that proposed budget down 10% would require approximately $1,524,402 in cuts, the chief said. To reach the modeled reduction, the chief described a sequence of potential cuts: for example, not staffing a planned Brooker station (saving about $677,436), eliminating special‑event staffing, ending the department’s swap‑medic contract with the sheriff, directing transports to the closest appropriate facility rather than patient choice, removing a battalion supervisor and, in later steps, closing stations such as Hilburn Springs or Speedville.
“Every dollar that we cut from fire rescue does not just reduce our budget. It's reducing our community safety,” Carter said. He warned closing stations would expand areas classified as “no recognized protection” under ISO rules, which could raise premiums for homeowners and businesses and “increase ISO ratings, raise insurance premiums for families and businesses, and slow down our ability to respond when a home, a business, or a life is on the line.” The chief provided an insurance quote example showing a sample homeowner premium increasing approximately 28.6% if the property’s protection class fell from 5 to 10.
Dozens of residents, firefighters and officials spoke against cuts during the meeting’s public comment period. Bradford County Fire Rescue personnel and family members described medical and fire calls where fast response was critical.
Firefighter Joel Haas said cuts would harm response and public safety: “We need more coverage overall, not less coverage.” His spouse, Morgan Haas, described a 2024 medical emergency involving the couple’s 14‑month‑old son and said, “I knew the minute that those guys got there and those ladies got there that our son was gonna be okay.” Jeremy Morrison, a firefighter, told the board Bradford County “is one of the only three out of 67 counties in the state of Florida that currently do not have a fire assessment fee,” and said staffing levels fall well short of National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) recommendations: “We're lucky if we get 6, not alone, 8 if we include the city of Stark.”
Julie Johnson, a member of the Bradford County School Board who spoke as a private citizen, described the personal and family toll of firefighting work and urged the commission to consider the human cost of cuts. Lottie Mayor and other municipal officials asked the board to honor commitments made during earlier discussions about the county assessment and municipal support for local stations.
Several speakers tied the budget discussion to recent county decisions and planning. Amy Blum, a Lottie city councilor, said her city had paid utilities and maintenance for the local station for five years and had approved a memorandum of understanding; she called it “disheartening” to learn the station might be cut after the city agreed to participate in the county assessment.
County staff said they have already asked all departments to prepare a snapshot showing the effect of a uniform 10% reduction in their budgets; county management said those documents exist and will inform broader budget deliberations. Commissioners clarified there was no current decision to implement the cuts; the meeting’s presentation was intended to show the consequences if the board sought comparable percentage reductions across departments.
Chief Carter asked the board to weigh the costs of short‑term budget reductions against rising risks, including firefighter cancer and mental‑health concerns cited in national studies the chief referenced during his remarks. He urged the commission to prioritize public safety in final budget determinations.
The board did not take an immediate vote on fire department staffing or station closures at the meeting. County administration and department heads will provide more detailed budget material in subsequent meetings for the commission to consider.
