Fort Myers Beach Could Lose Its Fire Department on Tuesday — Voters in Two Districts Decide
A referendum on Tuesday's ballot asks voters in Fort Myers Beach and Iona McGregor whether to abolish the Fort Myers Beach Fire Control District and fold it into Iona McGregor — a merger a consultant's study found no compelling reason to make.
Voters in Fort Myers Beach and the Iona McGregor area will decide on Tuesday whether the Fort Myers Beach Fire Control District continues to exist. Chapter 2026-192, Laws of Florida — House Bill 4013, introduced by Reps. Adam Botana and Webster Barnaby and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis on June 10 — puts the merger on the November 3 ballot, and it takes effect only if a majority of the voters in each district approves it.
If it passes, the Beach district, created in 1951, is abolished, and its territory, assets and liabilities, including pension liabilities, transfer to the Iona McGregor Fire Protection and Rescue District, created in 1975. A transitional board drawn from both districts would govern until the board consolidates at the 2028 general election. The Beach district holds about $21 million it had saved for future equipment, trucks, a fireboat and a boatlift; the district's own public notice puts the taxpayer savings that would transfer at $21.7 million.
The case against the merger is in the districts' own paperwork. An analysis by the J. Angle Group, a consulting firm for emergency-service organizations, found no compelling reasons to merge the two districts for financial or operational purposes, according to the News-Press, and bringing Beach employees' wages to parity — an average increase of about 11 percent — would cost about $1.3 million a year. Supporters, including Botana, argue the merger will save taxpayers money. Polls are open Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
