Tallahassee commission backs fee increase to fund ISO upgrades, authorizes hires despite county dispute

Tallahassee City Commission on July 11 during a budget workshop approved staff recommendations that include adopting a proposed fire services fee increase tied to a plan to raise the city’s Insurance Services Office (ISO) rating to Class 2, funding new hires and equipment and beginning implementation while a contract dispute with Leon County proceeds.

The vote, moved by the Mayor Pro Tem and seconded by Commissioner Richardson, passed by voice vote. Commissioners directed staff to publish required notices and to return for budget hearings in September.

The change matters because a lower ISO rating generally signals stronger fire-protection capability and can reduce property-insurance premiums, officials said. City fire officials and the budget team argued failure to act now would miss a narrow audit window and delay improvements until the next multi-year cycle.

City budget presenter Robert said the city’s fire-services enterprise fund is projected to exhaust reserves by 2026 if revenues and costs remain unchanged. A consultant study commissioned with Leon County (Accenture) estimated the cost of planned staffing, equipment and ISO-related work at roughly $29 million over the study period and calculated an average residential increase of about $4.86 per month. City staff said the county proposed excluding the ISO-related staffing and equipment from its share, which would cut roughly $1 per month from the county portion of the proposed increase.

Tallahassee Fire Chief Sanders told commissioners the department must act now to capture points in the next ISO audit window scheduled for 2027. “If we miss this opportunity, we won't be able to revisit this again until 2032,” Chief Sanders said. He described ISO scoring components that include water supply, emergency communications and on-scene staffing, and said the department’s plan adds personnel to meet NFPA response expectations.

Under the city’s proposal the department would hire additional firefighters to staff new and expanded stations and to move toward four-person crews on five of the busiest engine companies. Staff listed specific personnel requests elsewhere in the broader budget: 24 additional firefighters tied to Station 17 construction and expansion at Station 15 and another 26 positions aimed at improving ISO performance over a two-year period.

City staff said Leon County Schools had previously paid about $1 million a year into the fire-services fund but has since stopped remitting that amount; staff characterized that loss as a material contributor to the fund shortfall. The interlocal contract with Leon County allows the county to dispute changes; county staff notified the commission that it preferred not to proceed with ISO-related staffing increases and authorized its administrator to pursue dispute-resolution steps in the contract, including staff discussions, mediation and potential arbitration. City staff estimated the contractual resolution process could take several months.

City staff told commissioners the city can proceed with implementation—hiring and operational changes—while the contract dispute follows the interlocal process, and noted notices for rate changes must be published within statutory timelines. The commission asked staff to transmit a letter summarizing the action to the Leon County Commission.

Mayor Pro Tem said public-safety needs and response-time improvements justify the increase. “For public safety, for response times, for personnel, for staffing, for training, yes,” the Mayor Pro Tem said. Several other commissioners voiced support during the discussion and thanked fire personnel for their service.

Next steps: staff will publish the proposed rate adjustments and include the fire-services fee increase in the budget hearings set for Sept. 3 and Sept. 17, 2025, at 6 p.m. in Commission Chambers and will send the commission’s action to Leon County as requested.