By Susannah Bryan
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A controversial plan to charge property owners across Fort Lauderdale a costly EMS tax is dead — for now anyway.
Fort Lauderdale commissioners were all set to vote Tuesday night on a plan that would establish an Emergency Medical Services taxing district citywide. But hours before the 6 p.m. meeting began, city staff alerted the commission they would not be voting on the plan that night.
Here’s why: The city needs voter approval to collect an EMS tax, based on a legal opinion from the City Attorney’s Office.
That key detail, delivered Tuesday by Interim City Attorney D’Wayne Spence, was a bit of a jolt to the commission. Weeks ago, Spence told them all that was needed was commission approval of an ordinance setting up the taxing district.
Vice Mayor Steve Glassman questioned why the commission was only just being told about it now.
“My office has also spent a great deal of time trying to explain what this is all about,” he said. “We’ve taken a lot of heat (from residents). I don’t understand why this issue is being fleshed out now. It would be helpful if we knew these kinds of things before we get into these discussions and get everybody upset.”
Spence apologized for the blunder.
“This particular nuance in law is something we just did not catch,” he said. “I can only promise to do better. I understand the angst. This is a very specialized area of law.”
The idea for the tax was floated over the summer during a scantly attended meeting of the city’s Fire Rescue Advisory Committee.
The South Florida Sun Sentinel broke the story in December after a city consultant shared details about the proposed tax during a commission conference meeting.
An EMS tax could bring in close to $55 million a year to Fort Lauderdale, helping pay for more firefighter/paramedics in a city whose population swells daily with commuters and tourists. Under the plan, homeowners and commercial property owners could have seen the EMS tax on their property tax bill as soon as 2026.
The tax would have come to nearly $500 for a home with a taxable value of $590,000. The higher the value of the property, the higher the tax.
The mayor not a fan
Mayor Dean Trantalis made it clear early on that he had no plans to support the tax.
Commissioner Pamela Beasley-Pittman also questioned whether it was the right time to levy such a tax when residents were already challenged by spiraling costs.
But three members of the commission — John Herbst, Ben Sorensen and Glassman — said they supported setting up the taxing district.
At the time, all three said they didn’t necessarily want to levy the tax, but they wanted the option in case money was short.
Longtime resident Bob Casullo told the Sun Sentinel the city was trying to get “blood out of a stone,” saying it was another tax most residents can’t afford.
On Wednesday, he said he was relieved to learn the voters would have a say.
“No way will they get approval from the voters,” he said. “Fantastic! It’ll never happen.”
Fort Lauderdale officials say only one other city in South Florida collects an EMS tax and that is Pompano Beach.
The total EMS budget in Pompano Beach comes to $25.5 million. Pompano’s EMS tax generated $9.2 million last fiscal year — 36% of the total budget.
Currently, residential property owners in Fort Lauderdale pay an annual fire assessment fee of $328. That fee, which helps pay for firefighting duties, brings in $51.5 million a year.
At full-cost recovery, a new EMS tax would bring in another $53 million in the first year. Together, the fire fee and EMS tax would bring in a grand total of $104.5 million.
Public outcry
During Tuesday night’s commission meeting, both Glassman and Herbst said they took a lot of heat from residents who were fuming over the idea of being charged an EMS tax.
“Although I said I support moving forward with the setting up of the structure, I was never ever saying I was actually in support of initiating the tax,” Glassman said. “I always thought that setting up the structure was a good way to go as we head into the meat of the budget season because it gives us another tool in the toolbox. I just thought it was an option we’d have.”
Herbst said he and his office also got slammed with complaint calls.
Herbst noted that during one public discussion he’d suggested that the commission could always lower the city’s property tax rate to make up for the EMS tax.
Instead of seeking full-cost recovery for emergency medical services, commissioners were told they had the option of phasing in the tax at 25% in the first year or at another percentage of their choosing, including zero.
Fort Lauderdale homeowners already pay a yearly fire fee of $328. Unlike the fire fee, the EMS tax would have been tied to the value of their property.
Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue has a $127.4 million budget.
Collecting an EMS tax rate of $68 per $100,000 in assessed value would bring in nearly $75 million over the next 10 years, according to the consultant. Increasing the EMS tax to $86 per $100,000 in assessed value by 2033 would bring in close to $95 million.
“You can adopt the EMS tax rate at full cost recovery in the first year,” the consultant told the commission in December. “Or you can phase it in, ramp it up over a four-year period or five-year period.”
Let the people decide
Herbst said the city could have done a better job in getting the word out about why the commission was considering an EMS tax.
“I think we have a large gap in terms of educating the public about what this is,” he said Tuesday night. “When people started writing in and calling me they were under the impression that we were just trying to raise another $50 million. I’ve been at pains to explain to them that that’s not necessarily the case.”
Herbst said he told angry residents about the need to hire more firefighters.
“But that’s not resonating,” he said. “All I’m hearing is just cut everything else. If we do ever want to put this in place, I think this is really ideal for a referendum. Our residents really need to weigh in on this … if we’re going to do something this dramatic.”
Trantalis said the commission really has no choice but to put the question to voters if it wants to move forward with an EMS tax.
“We’ll table it at this point,” he said. “Even though I’m not in favor of this, I am in favor of letting the people decide.”
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