Residents of Tallahassee and Leon County pay a fire fee. The Tallahassee Fire Department provides service to all of those residents, including those in unincorporated areas of the county.
A new round of sniping has emerged between city and county commissioners over that fire fee, which the City increased last year against the wishes of county leaders.
The Tallahassee City Commission is now defending itself against accusations by the Leon County Commission regarding management of the fire services fund.
That’s the topic of today’s Speaking Of.
“This is because of Mayor John Dailey. This is because he got his feelings hurt because the fire union didn’t endorse him. That’s purely what this is about,” said Leon County Commission Chair Christian Caban at last week’s county workshop.
“I will continue to be the adult in this conversation,” said Mayor John Dailey at the city commission meeting a day later. “I’m very disappointed in my colleagues at the County, but I’ve come to accept it.”
The snit started when Caban and Commissioner Bill Proctor held a news conference about the findings of an independent review. The County hired Benesch Consulting to conduct the review. It found the City of Tallahassee’s fire services fund has potentially been mismanaged.
Caban says the review found a revenue shortfall estimated between $15.8 million and $21.2-million over just two years. He went on to say that county residents have been unlawfully billed a fee for fire services and he wants refunds for them – and an audit by the state.
Tallahassee provides fire services under an interlocal agreement with Leon County.
There is widespread agreement that the service provided by the Tallahassee Fire Department is strong. This is entirely about the fire fee charged to residents and how the money is being managed.
“We have tried over and over and over again to be accommodating to the City of Tallahassee, to make compromises,” said Commissioner Brian Welch at the county’s workshop. “We may know more than they know about the interlocal agreement and the egregious violations of it that we have uncovered simply in defense of our taxpayers.”
Welch went on. “These violations…are rooted in arrogance, they are rooted in contempt, they are rooted in entitlement and obstinance.”
But, the City says the Benesch report is just plain wrong.
“We audit our program on an annual basis. We have got nationally recognized talent that is truly certified in finances specifically to the fire service fee and how we run our department,” an angry Mayor Dailey countered at the City’s meeting.
"I have to say that when the news broke of the Benesch report, I was puzzled and then very upset," Tallahassee Resource Management Director Robert Wigan told city commissioners. "If we had a $20 million hole, that would have been addressed sooner than later."
"The findings that are in the Benesch report are flawed and overstated," Wigan said. For example, "They've reflected the unpaid school board fees in triplicate. There's incomplete analysis and faulty math...There's just a flawed methodology. The report admits that there's no CPAs on staff at Benesch."
The City says Benesch never reached out to any city staffers - aside from a question about the airport - as it compiled the report.
“I rest my case,” Dailey said. “I’m not spending anymore time on this junk that’s coming out of the County, and I am disappointed in the behavior of certain county commissioners, including the chairman, for gaslighting this community on false narratives.”
Click LISTEN above to hear the full podcast.
