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Okeechobee County Chief says fire, EMS budgets balanced at a 50/50 split; Station 4 spending paused pending location review
Summary
County staff and the fire chief told commissioners the Fire Rescue and EMS budgets can be funded under the fiscal 2026 assessment rates using a revised 50/50 split of personnel costs. Commissioners asked staff to hold Station 4 construction funds in reserve while they analyze development plans and response-zone data.
The Fire Chief told the Okeechobee County Commission that, after re-running the CASA assessment report and adjusting revenue assumptions, the county can fund the Fire Rescue and EMS requests using the fiscal year 2026 assessment rates and a revised 50/50 split of shared personnel costs.
The change follows staff work to reconcile assessment calculations and revenue. The Fire Chief said the department re-ran the CASA report and found “sufficient funds to do what we talked about” and that the budget can include equipment and station improvements without moving to the higher 2027 rates.
Commissioners heard the Fire Rescue total request is $6,723,457 — a year-to-year increase staff described as 12.07% — with personnel costs listed as the largest line. EMS was presented with a $6,614,361 total, described by staff as an increase of about 3.92%; staff said much of the change reflects moving to the 50/50 allocation.
Why it matters: commissioners had previously discussed spreading costs over 2027 rates instead of 2026. The chief and budget staff said the updated CASA run showed enough assessment revenue was already collected on the fire side to keep the 2026 rates and still add back capital items and a brush truck that had been omitted in earlier drafts.
Commissioner Burrows and other commissioners pressed the department on where to place new station capacity. One commissioner asked staff to hold the Station 4 appropriation in reserve rather than immediately spend it, so the county can combine up-to-date development plans and response-zone analysis before committing construction dollars. The Fire Chief said moving forward he and the deputy chief plan to evaluate station placement and typical apparatus mixes, noting not every station will need a brush truck or water tanker as the system expands.
Budget process notes: staff said they removed animal-control revenue from the law-enforcement revenue line on the sheriff’s tab (an unrelated correction that county budget staff said had created confusion in earlier comparisons). Commissioners directed staff to provide the updated pages to replace the copies in the meeting packet.
The county also noted $61,533 in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) remaining funds that can be applied to two fire-station CDBG grants if additional local match is required; staff said that balance could be used for matching or other eligible station-related expenses.
What’s next: Commissioners asked the chief and budget staff to develop a combined map of high-demand response “hot spots” and pending development over the next 18 months to guide where capacity and station investments should be concentrated. The board did not take a final vote on station construction funding during the session.
