TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – After the City of Tallahassee voted to end its fire contract with Leon County last year, a public safety consulting agency is presenting its analysis of fire rescue services in an upcoming workshop.
Fitch & Associates conducted the report and recommended how the county should move forward, as requested by County commissioners earlier this month. The request followed a report by Benesch Public Finance alleging the city’s overspending and billing discrepancies led to the city’s revenue shortfall from 2023 to 2025.
This shortfall of revenue ultimately led to the discussion of the fire contract’s end as the city needed to increase fees to fund a new fire station.
The agency suggested that the county pursue two options at the same time: renegotiate the city’s fire services contract while also creating a new county fire services model. Fitch & Associates says its analysis shows that the interlocal agreement in which the city provides fire services to the county is “highly effective.”
They say this option would avoid startup costs of starting a county fire service and wouldn’t impact residents’ property insurance costs.
“This option preserves the existing level of service in the unincorporated area, with approximately 97% of calls receiving a response within 13 minutes or less,” the agenda says.
However, the agency also suggests they pursue the county fire services model, as there’s time to do so with the current contract ending Sept. 30, 2028. They suggested this model to include six county stations, an increase of 80 full-time positions, about $30.1 million in start-up costs and an “automatic aid agreement” where the closest unit responds to service calls.
If the automatic aid agreement isn’t reached, the county would need to construct more fire stations to “replicate response time and minimize impact to property insurance for residents.”
The company did say the costs for the first few years for the county fire services model are projected to be higher than the interlocal agreement model, but costs over time would be lower. Fitch also recommends that the county fire services model have a county ISO rating reduction from Class 3/3X to Class 5/5X, which would “modestly impact” insurance premiums for the residents in the unincorporated areas.
Overall, Fitch recommends that the county renegotiate its interlocal agreement for 90 days that includes its recommended policies. Meanwhile, county staff would also create an implementation plan for Fitch’s recommended county fire services model.
The county is discussing these recommendations in a Fire Services workshop on Oct. 20. Following this workshop, the Tallahassee Fire Department Chief is expected to present his five-year strategic plan to city commissioners.
To keep up with the latest news as it develops, follow WCTV on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Nextdoor and X (Twitter).
Have a news tip or see an error? Write to us here. Please include the article’s headline in your message.
Be the first to see all the biggest headlines by downloading the WCTV News app. Click here to get started.
Copyright 2026 WCTV. All rights reserved.