Fla. City Manager Says Fire, Police Merger Not Worth It
Source Sun Sentinel, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
March 14--HOLLYWOOD -- A proposed merger between the city's fire department and the sheriff's fire-rescue wouldn't be worthwhile for the city, according to a report by the city's finance director.
As a result of a "lack of usable savings," City Manager Doug Hewett has recommended that the City Commission reject the merger.
The two entities disagree on how much money the city would save.
The Broward Sheriff's Office estimates savings of more than $10.8 million, while the city calculates it would actually cost the city between $933,000 and nearly $1.7 million.
The Sheriff's Office provided an "overstatement of alleged savings" based on analysis that "continues to include savings that are unattainable and unusable in the city's [fiscal year] 2013 budget," Finance Director Matt Lalla wrote in a March 6 report.
Sheriff Al Lamberti said he stands by his office's analysis.
"The decision to merge fire services rests with the elected officials on the City Commission," Lamberti said Tuesday afternoon. "I am confident in the number that we provided ... That amount was arrived at from the data provided by the city itself."
The city based its evaluations on whether "the identified funds are closer to paper or theoretical savings," Lalla wrote.
In the analysis, the only category the two departments agreed upon was an estimated savings of $425,000 through dispatch costs. They disagreed on how much would be saved through salaries, pensions, benefits and operating expenses.
"Our analysis for the city of Hollywood was no different than what we did for Dania Beach and Deerfield Beach," Lamberti said. "I am comfortable and stand by that number that was arrived at by our staff."
Hollywood firefighters last summer asked the city to look into a merger amid the city's financial crisis.
On Monday, the city swore in 15 new firefighters, bringing the department's personnel of sworn and civilian employees to about 300.
The 15, selected from a pool of more than 500 applicants, were sworn in after eight weeks of training.
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Copyright 2012 - Sun Sentinel, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
