DOWNTOWN TALLAHASSEE, FL (WTXL) \u2014 The Tallahassee Fire Department\u2019s five-year strategic plan is accepted, but commissioners made time to respond to comments made during the county\u2019s workshop on fire services \u2014 which pointed to possible mismanagement of the fire service fund.<\/p>\n
WATCH FULL REPORT BELOW:<\/p>\n
City leaders reject county\u2019s fire fund shortfall report as Tallahassee approves 5-year fire department plan<\/p>\n
Tensions over the fire services debate boiled over Wednesday after comments made at Leon County\u2019s workshop<\/a> on fire services.<\/p>\n \u201cThe entitlement, entitlement, the obstinance, the insolence coming from the city is so outrageous. It is a direct insult to the citizens of the entire county, all 300,000 people,\u201d County Commissioner Brian Welch said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is because of Mayor John Dailey. This is because he got his feelings hurt because the fire union didn\u2019t endorse him. That\u2019s purely what this is about \u2026 And it\u2019s frustrating because how we got here was by us just advocating for all residents, city residents and county residents,\u201d County Chair Christian Caban said.<\/p>\n City leaders pushed back at the meeting while discussing the Tallahassee Fire Department\u2019s five-year strategic plan, describing the comments as misinformation.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not spending any more time on this junk that\u2019s coming out of the county, and I am disappointed in the behavior of certain county commissioners including the chairman for gaslighting this community on false narratives,\u201d Mayor John Dailey said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are the most efficiently run. We audit our program on an annual basis. We have got nationally recognized talent that is truly certified in finances 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,\u201d Dailey said.<\/p>\n It all stems from the Benesch report \u2014 recently released by Leon County \u2014 which found a revenue shortfall between $15 million and $21 million in the fund in FY 2024 and FY 2025, attributing the loss to missing and inconsistent billing of government buildings, Leon County schools and residents.<\/p>\n But the city\u2019s resource management director says there\u2019s no lost revenue, saying the firm\u2019s math and methodology were flawed.<\/p>\n \u201cBenesch ignores actuals or doesn\u2019t mention in the report the fiscal year 26 rate adjustment keeps fire services at full cost recovery based on revised costs for city residents. We support the firefighter contracts, the staffing needs and the fire station 17 construction,\u201d Resource Management Director Robert Wigen said.<\/p>\n Commissioner Curtis Richardson questioned the firm\u2019s credibility.<\/p>\n \u201cWho the hell is Benesch? Who in the hell is that to bring information like that to the county commission? No cooperation with staff or consulting with our staff to get this same information that\u2019s available to anyone in the public,\u201d Richardson said.<\/p>\n According to Benesch, the report was created with data provided from City of Tallahassee public records requests, Leon County, joint city and county GIS staff and other public records.<\/p>\n It noted that it wasn\u2019t an official audit of the city\u2019s records and stated they weren\u2019t an accounting firm.<\/p>\n The county\u2019s attorney said Tuesday they sent the report over to the city before its release but didn\u2019t get a response back.<\/p>\n \u201cThere have been attempts over the last year and a half to engage the city on some of the concerns the county had and work with them to validate or have them provide some sort of explanation for why some of the findings wouldn\u2019t be accurate, and the city was not interested in engaging in that process,\u201d County Attorney Chasity O\u2019Steen said.<\/p>\n Stanley Sims \u2014 the only public speaker on the item \u2014 says the focus of fire services should be on public safety, not games.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople\u2019s lives are on the line, not your ego. Let\u2019s stop the games. I hope November 3rd brings us some adults, and the children will leave the room,\u201d Sims said.<\/p>\n Commissioner Jack Porter wanted to take another path \u2014 suggesting that the city\u2019s inspector general come back with an item to structure an independent audit of the fire service funds.<\/p>\n \u201cIf the city has done nothing wrong, let\u2019s prove it,\u201d Porter said.<\/p>\n The discussion ended with the acceptance of the strategic plan. Some commissioners are also pushing for the information shared about the fire services during this meeting to be released to the public.<\/p>\n This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.<\/p>\n Want to see more local news? Visit the WTXL ABC 27 Website. <\/a><\/p>\n Stay in touch with us anywhere, anytime.<\/p>\n Like us on Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n Follow us on Instagram <\/a>and X.<\/a><\/p>\n