Martin County Fire Chief Chad Cianciulli warned Tuesday that a proposed expansion of Florida's homestead exemption could force the closure of three fire stations, lay off 116 firefighters, and eliminate specialized emergency response teams. During the Martin County Commission meeting, Cianciulli presented a planning exercise showing the department's annual budget would decline by $9.5 million in the first year if voters approve the constitutional amendment in November. By the second year, the annual loss would reach $16.5 million, a 22% reduction from the current budget.
Under the scenario, Fire Rescue could close Station 18 on Britt Road, Station 33 in Hobe Sound, and Station 23 on Kanner Highway. The department could be forced to lay off as many as 116 firefighters by the second year, equivalent to one of the department's three shifts. The funding loss could force Martin County to eliminate specialized teams responsible for hazardous materials incidents, technical rescues and dive operations. The department could then have to request assistance from neighboring agencies in Palm Beach or St. Lucie counties, potentially increasing response times.
Cianciulli pointed to the deadly Camp Mystic flooding in Texas as an example of the delays that can occur when a community must rely on outside resources. "They had to call for outside assets, a 14-hour response to start mitigating that scene," Cianciulli said. "We're in a position in the county, if we have any incident here, we are able to do an immediate mitigation. We're not wasting any second." During public comment, one resident and a commissioner questioned whether reducing employee salaries could help address the potential shortfall.
Cianciulli responded that Martin County already has difficulty recruiting trained firefighter-paramedics because departments farther south offer better compensation. "When we did our last class that we had, we had roughly 22 open positions; I only had about three paramedics that actually graduated that class," Cianciulli said. "The rest were firefighter EMTs. It's because the compensation package for a firefighter medic that is already trained is much higher down south." Cianciulli advised residents to learn as much as possible about the proposal and its potential effects before casting their ballots in November.