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Delray Beach commissioners extinguish fire service fee
Angry Delray Beach residents wait for their turn to speak out against the proposed fire service fee Tuesday evening.
By David Sedore, Palm Beach Business.com
DELRAY BEACH — It’s back to the budgetary drawing board for Delray Beach.
Delray Beach city commissioners Tuesday evening killed a proposed fire service fee needed to fill a $3.2 million hole in the municipal budget. City residents and business owners who packed commission chambers in opposition to the fee, cheered the 3-1vote.
The fee would have cost city residents between $52 a year for a home of less than 1,200 square feet to as much as $263 for a home of 10,000 square feet or more. Commercial properties would have paid between $31 and $3,552, again depending on square footage.
Commissioners originally saw the fee as the most equitable way to make up the shortfall. An alternative would have been to increase property taxes by 55 cents per $1,000 of assessed value, but commissioners saw that as unfair given the way the property tax system is administered under state law.
To say the fee was wildly unpopular among those attending Tuesday’s meeting, doesn’t do justice to the sentiment in the room. During a public hearing that extended for nearly two hours, only one resident spoke out in favor of the fee. Add in the fact that the municipal election is less than two months away and the odds that the fee would be enacted were barely above nil.
“The residents of Delray Beach are telling you now,” said Victor Kirson, who is running for a seat on the commission. “ If you vote against the residents, it’s political suicide.”
“When do the fees stop?” city resident Daniel B. Wright asked. “Every time we turn around we’re being hit with something. When does it stop?”
“Enough is enough,” said Timothy Boykin. “A lot of us have lost our homes. Children don’t have Christmas gifts. What about those of us who barely have something to eat? We need to start taking care of people.”
One resident called the fee a bailout to cover the budgetary incompetence of the city. Others accused commissioners of disregarding the state of the economy and the region's high jobless rate. Some claimed the fee was a plot to grab homes from destitute residents who would be unable to pay. One woman called the fee “a product of a dark, evil mind.”
Both Boca Raton and Boynton Beach have had fire service fees in place for years. The proposed Delray Beach fee generally would be in line with what its neighbors charge.
The fire department itself was the target of some ire, especially the salaries and retirement benefits firefighters receive. The department had its defenders as well, who argued that it deserved every budget dollar it gets, but demanded cuts elsewhere in city operations.
Commissioner Tom Carney ultimately voted against the fee, but said those who questioned the motives of commissioners and city administrators were off base.
“We do spend an awful lot of time sifting through what we can do, what we should do,” Carney said.
Said Commissioner Jay Alperin: “I’m disappointed so many people think that we’re trying to pull something evil. How we got into this mess is because politicians were not willing to make tough choices.”
Alperin cast the only vote in favor of the fee.
Commissioner Adam Frankel, who opposed the fee, warned that without it, the city will be forced to cut services — services many resident rely on. He noted recent efforts to stop drug rehab centers from operating homes in residential neighborhoods. “A lot of people come here when they have problems in their neighborhoods. Should this not pass I don’t want to hear any complaints.”
“The people have spoken,” Commissioner Angeleta Gray said. “We need to find other ways to make up the short fall.” Gray presided over the meeting in the absence of Mayor Woodie McDuffie, who was ill.
Mary Kilpatrick applauds a speaker opposed to Delray's proposed fire service fee.
