Seminole County commissioners have approved a nearly 19-percent increase in the fire-protection tax, saying the money is needed to shore up funding for the county’s 19 fire stations and the salaries of firefighters and paramedics.
“We have been living off reserve funds,” for fire services, County Manager Nicole Guillet said at a budget meeting last week. “Next year, we will run out of reserve funds [at the current fire tax rate]. There will not be enough money to fund the fire department. In three years, there will be an $8 million shortfall.”