STUART — It’s up to Stuart commissioners to decide if they want to negotiate with Martin County commissioners to merge the city and county fire rescue services.

The Martin County Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to endorse a merger proposal that would save the typical homeowner in unincorporated sections of the county $25 per year, but would cost the typical homeowner in Stuart $58 more annually.

The next step is for the Stuart City Commission to review the proposal to charge all property owners in Stuart and unincorporated Martin County a special property tax of $2.19 per $1,000 of assessed value for fire rescue service.

Under that scenario, the owners of a home with a taxable value of $200,000 in unincorporated Martin County and Stuart would both pay $438 per year for fire rescue service.

Currently, the owner of a home with a taxable value of $200,000 in unincorporated Martin County pays $463 per year and the owner of a home with a taxable value of $200,000 in Stuart pays $380 annually, county records show.

“I feel very strongly about moving forward with the consolidation with the City of Stuart,” said Commissioner Doug Smith. “I think that it’s time.”

Martin County expects to save $600,000 in overtime costs by absorbing Stuart’s 38 fire rescue workers. The county has about 250 fire rescue workers.

But the county commissioners decided to wait to discuss whether to include Jupiter Island and Sewall’s Point in the countywide fire rescue operation because of concerns about the dramatic increase in costs to the towns.

Sewall’s Point’s cost for county fire rescue service would increase to $1.2 million per year from $176,109 and Jupiter Island’s cost would increase to $3.6 million per year from $641,592.

Commission Chairman Susan Valliere said a “bidding war” between Stuart and Martin County eight years ago resulted in a deal where Sewall’s Point was “not paying enough” for fire rescue service, but the $1 million increase would be “a staggering blow.”

Jupiter Island Town Manager Joe Connolly and Sewall’s Point Town Manager Bob Kellogg told the commissioners the towns would form their own fire rescue services at the conclusion of their contracts with the county on Sept. 30, 2010 if the county insists on a countywide property tax rate for fire rescue service.

After the vote, Connolly praised the commissioners for leaving the towns out of the merger negotiations.

By George Andreassi

Tags: contract, Doug Smith, fire, fire rescue, George Andreassi, Joe Connolly, Jupiter Island, Martin County Commission, overtime, property, Sewall's Point, Stuart Commission, Susan Valliere, value, vote

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