Jupiter letter tells residents why it created fire department as union works to reverse vote
JUPITER — The town has taken the unusual step of emailing residents with a letter explaining its decision to start its own fire-rescue department, saying it will give Jupiter greater control over expenses and provide savings of more than $400 per household each year.
The move has not stopped members of a local firefighters union from launching a campaign of their own, one that could put the matter to a public vote in the March 2024 presidential primary election.
If the question qualifies for the ballot and a majority of voters approve it, the result could require Jupiter to reopen negotiations with Palm Beach County Fire Rescue before it embarks on its plan to create its own department, one that is expected to cost more than $60 million over the next several years.
Members of Local 2928 of the International Association of Firefighters, which represents county firefighters and paramedics, say they are going door-to-door to homes in Jupiter passing out flyers with “Don’t gamble with our life and safety! Keep our experienced and trusted firefighters” printed on the front.
They also are gathering signatures to put a proposed town charter amendment on the March 2024 ballot that would require voters — not the Town Council — to decide whether the town may create a fire-rescue department.
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Jeffrey Newsome, the local union’s president and a firefighter for more than 28 years, helped to organize the petition drive. He said canvassers will be in the community collecting signatures until the end of October.
The union will need about 4,500 signatures to place the issue before voters, and the petition will need to be certified by December, the county supervisor of elections office said. Tom Baird, Jupiter’s town attorney, said he is reviewing the language of the proposed question to see whether it qualifies for the ballot.
Jupiter letter says firefighter union engaging in 'myths'
The town’s letter to residents called the union’s claims about the move imperiling public safety “myths” and defended the council's Aug. 15 decision to end their 40-year relationship with Palm Beach County Fire Rescue, even though Jupiter officials have said they received excellent service from the agency.
“We know you may be seeing these flyers, emails, signs and social media posts, so we wanted to take some time to explain the decision and address the inaccuracies that are being communicated,” the letter stated.
The letter said that the town and county had structured their contract in the past to cover the costs of staffing and equipping the three fire stations within Jupiter, based on the volume of calls for service generated in the town.
The county, the letter said, began its negotiations on a new deal with Jupiter by saying the town would be moved to the countywide tax rate of $3.45 per $1,000 of assessed value over a five-year period, and that Jupiter needed to pay its “fair share” for fire-rescue and emergency services throughout the county.
That would have led to county fire-rescue receiving $62.5 million per year, given Jupiter's property values, the letter said. By comparison, this year's rate was $1.87, which "equated to a budget" of about $26 million.
The letter said the county did not indicate that Jupiter would receive any new services or increased levels of services despite the rate increase.
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Negotiations with the county brought the rate down to one that would generate about $44 million per year, a price the town still considered too high, given that it “contained several, uncapped ‘add-on’ cost categories, and removed the ability for the Town Council to have input into staffing and equipment levels in the Town,” the letter stated. It also called for three years of notice if the town wanted to cancel the deal.
“Jupiter taxpayers,” the letter said, “will save between $50 million and $79 million” over the 10-year period, and that the owner of a homesteaded property valued at $550,000 would pay about $533 for Jupiter’s fire-rescue service in 2026, its first year of operation. If the town had stayed with the county, that property owner’s bill would have been about $951, or about $418 more.
The letter to residents also said:
Most other coastal communities in Palm Beach County have their own municipal fire-rescue departments, from larger ones such as Palm Beach Gardens to smaller ones such as North Palm Beach and Tequesta.
The town will retain its fire-rescue station on Military Trail in Abacoa and has “several sites to consider” for two other stations. It is open to discussing taking over the station in Burt Reynolds Park from the county. “This option would likely make financial sense for both parties, as Jupiter ramps up its service and PBCFR ramps down,” the letter said.
The union as of now has no contract with Jupiter but does not appear to be lobbying Palm Beach County Fire Rescue, with whom it does have a contract, to come to an agreement with the town.
Council member: Jupiter should 'engage' with residents on fire-rescue
The lone Town Council member to vote against leaving Palm Beach County Fire Rescue was Cameron May, a Palm Beach County Fire Rescue firefighter-paramedic stationed in Jupiter. The union’s website lists him as its first legislative vice president.
At the Aug. 15 meeting, he took issue with the way the vote took place, with the council voting on an agenda item that was listed only as a presentation, and that the town needed to spend more time discussing it. The town faced a Sept. 30 deadline either to renew its agreement with the county or start its own department.
He said said he was “completely unaware” of the letter before the moment it pinged in his email inbox.
“I feel that if we're going to be spending the amount of money that we're spending to create such a department, then we should really engage with the residents on this topic,” said May, whom county ethics officials have cleared to take part in discussions about Palm Beach County Fire Rescue.
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May said he didn’t know what kind of “backlash” would follow if the petition made it to a ballot, or even if it could legally be put to a vote in the first place.
“I would hope that if there is a majority vote to retain Palm Beach County as the service provider, then the council would listen to that vote of the people,” May said. “I would prefer that the residents have a vote on something of this magnitude.”
If the petition gets signatures from 10% of Jupiter’s registered voter signatures and is accepted by the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections, the item would appear on the nearest upcoming ballot, according to a Supervisor of Elections of Palm Beach County spokesperson.
The petition must receive at least 4,494 signatures out of the 44,938 total Jupiter voters in March 2022 for a chance to go before the voters. Newsome hopes to reach the signature goal by the end of October and certify them with the county by Dec. 15.
“We are not sitting every night counting how many votes we get, but we are going to go nonstop,” Newsome said. “The town has been saying the union is the big, bad wolf, but we've been active in that town for 40 years. This is nothing new.”
Maya Washburn covers northern Palm Beach County for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida-Network. Reach her at mwashburn@pbpost.com. Support local journalism: Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Jupiter defends vote to create fire department; union works to reverse it
