At a recent county-wide meeting where I spoke, many in the audience were still under the illusion that the merging of Martin County’s and Stuart’s Fire Departments would save money. As I have written numerous times, this is not the case, especially for the residents of the City. In fact, it would cost Stuart taxpayers roughly an additional $500,000 per year, probably the loss of one of the City’s stations, and increased response times.

For too long, Martin County tax payers have been duped into believing that there is some tremendous cost savings by consolidation. This sorry notion has been perpetuated by a County government not willing to make hard decisions to get its own costs under control. From the way Martin County allocates the soft costs of their Fire/Rescue Department to their unwillingness to face the hard costs, going forward will only exaggerate the monetary differences of the two departments.

Martin County residents are not doing their due diligence by examining the data that exists. We now live in a “fact free” nation where we disregard anything we don’t want to hear or believe. I would venture to state that not many people have read the “Fitch Study” including some elected and government officials and members of purported “watch dog” organizations. I would also surmise that even less have studied Stuart’s Finance Department’s findings regarding the effect of consolidation on the City.

Stuart is a geographically small compact city of 6.5 square miles. We have less than 10% of the entire County’s population. 65% of our residents pay only our fire fee and no real estate taxes. The average Stuart single family home has a taxable value of $124,567.  Martin County consists of 543 square miles and has a fire/rescue department whose budget is eight times greater than the City’s.  So consolidation is nothing more than a distraction from what really needs to be done by Martin County.

Why does it cost Stuart less than Martin County to provide fire/rescue service? The most important and main reason is because of the hard work by City management, the department rank and file and the City Commission. By working together, we have our costs under control. Stuart has implemented programs and procedures that have ultimately benefited the residents and taxpayers of Stuart. That is why consolidation would result in an expense to the City of an additional $500,000. The County, on the other hand, has not and continues not to do what is necessary to accomplish the same goals.

County residents, there is no quick fix. The Martin County Commission and management must implement needed reforms to control costs. If you live in unincorporated Martin County demand that they do what is necessary. Don’t look to the City’s residents and taxpayers to come to your rescue. Don’t believe what you are told when there are no facts to support those suppositions. A lack of political will and facing hard choices is how the County got here.

At that same meeting, an unincorporated Martin County resident actually said to me, “Stuart should allow the consolidation.” I once again explained that it was not in the best interest of the City to do so. He then said that Stuart just needs to “bite the bullet” because it may be better for him. To which I replied, “I don’t represent you, I represent the residents of the City and must do what is best for them.” That taxpayer should be demanding that his County Commission “bite the bullet” and do what is best for him and other Martin County taxpayers.