Broward backs severing fire-rescue from sheriff’s authority after 2028

The end of the Broward Sheriff’s Office’s control of County Fire-Rescue has begun.

The County Commission decided Tuesday to wrest control of the area’s fire-rescue department from the Broward Sheriff’s Office after their current contract runs out in 2028.

The nine-member commission voted unanimously Tuesday to notify the Sheriff’s Office that its fire-rescue contract, which has been renewed every five years without controversy since it took effect in 2003, will not be renewed after 2028.

“This has been a matter of fiscal accountability and our responsibility to taxpayers,” said County Commissioner Lamar Fisher, who spearheaded the move to sever the longstanding relationship.

The change means the 900 or so employees of Broward County Fire Rescue will once again, after 2028, be employees of the county rather than the Sheriff’s Office. Their contracts will be negotiated with the county and their benefits packages will be managed by the county. They will no longer answer to the Broward sheriff.

The county will also be responsible for fulfilling the contracts the Sheriff’s Office has with numerous cities for fire-rescue services, including Cooper City, Weston and Dania Beach.

Fire-Rescue’s $259 million budget is currently paid for by a combination of allocations from the county and the cities who enter contracts with the Sheriff’s Office.

County officials have long complained that the Sheriff’s Office has not had any legal reason to account for its funding once it is allocated. The county can agree to provide millions for raises and benefits to deputies and first responders, but the sheriff can then decide to move the money to other services within his authority, commissioners have complained.

The Broward Sheriff’s Office has asked the county for significant funding increases every year Sheriff Gregory Tony has been in office, sparking funding disputes that came to a head last year when the sheriff took his fight to Tallahassee, urging the governor and top state officers to override the county’s funding allocation.

Commissioner Steven Geller, a critic of Sheriff Tony’s spending priorities, said accountability is one of his key complaints with the Sheriff’s Office, though he did want to make it clear that Tuesday’s vote came with the flexibility for the county to reconsider its position within the next year.

Rafael Olmeda can be reached at rolmeda@sunsentinel.com or 954-356-4457.