TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Tallahassee city leaders pushed back Wednesday night against Leon County commissioners’ complaints about the city-county fire services agreement, signaling the city is preparing for the possibility of ending the partnership and focusing fire response inside city limits.
The dispute surfaced as Tallahassee Fire Chief Gene Sanders appeared before the Tallahassee City Commission to discuss the department’s five-year strategic plan. The plan considers a future in which the Tallahassee Fire Department would handle only calls within the city limits.
After the meeting, Tallahassee Mayor John E. Dailey said the county’s claims did not hold up.
“The conversation about the report that came out from the county was debunked,” Dailey said.
During the meeting, Dailey criticized a county report tied to the fire service fee and said city officials were not contacted before it was presented.
“Specifically to the fire service fee and how we run our department. And we got a report that came out literally leading county commissioners to thinking that there is illegal activity going on in City Hall, and they did not reach out to you once, you once, you, you, you, or you once. I rest my case, I’m not spending anymore time on this junk,” Dailey said.
Sanders told commissioners the strategic plan was developed based on direction from the City Commission and includes an assumption that the interlocal agreement with Leon County would not be renewed.
“The way the plan is written it’s based on direction from our City Commission. In 2028 we will not renew the inter-local agreement with Leon County, and pour plan is based on the service area that is identified by the commission,” Sanders said.
City leaders said their focus would be on structures within Tallahassee city limits. Tallahassee Commissioner Jeremy Matlow said both city and county residents should contribute fairly, while also emphasizing the need to control costs.
“I think the county needs to pay their fare share and city residents need to pay their fare share but we do need to get costs under control and come to an agreement that works for everybody,” Matlow said.
Dailey also questioned the basis for the county’s figures.
“Nobody was consulted, nobody really knows where it came from, nobody really knows how they conducted it? And so just take it at face value, wer’e moving forward, I’m going to continue to be the adult in this conversation,” Dailey said.
Leon County commissioners raised their concerns Tuesday about problems they said they have with the city-county fire services agreement. The debate continued Wednesday night as Tallahassee officials responded and discussed the department’s long-term plans.
Tallahassee Fire Department 2026 – 2030 Strategic PlanPDF previewPreview PDF