PINELLAS PARK - The city and county appear to have settled their differences over the funding for a fire station covering the unincorporated High Point area.
Pinellas Park will reduce its 2004-05 budget for Fire Station 36 from $1.72-million to about $1.41-million.
Pinellas County has agreed that brings the budget to a reasonable level and will recommend the County Commission approve the city's request.
The budget reduction means there will be one less firefighter on each of the three shifts at Station 36. Those positions will be moved to other Pinellas Park fire stations so no one will lose his job, city spokesman Tim Caddell said.
"It does potentially leave that station understaffed if somebody is injured or on leave," Caddell said. "It will potentially affect service if that station is shorthanded . . . because help might have to come from other stations."
That would make response time longer, Caddell said.
Also unclear is whether this is a long-term solution to the financial problems besetting the High Point district, which is north of Pinellas Park between Largo, Clearwater and Tampa Bay. Funding for the district has become difficult as annexations have redirected tax money from the county, which has charge of fire service there, to cities.
"I don't know what the future will bring," said Chuck Kearns, the county's director of emergency services. "There's so many different moving pieces, it's just impossible to know."
Pinellas Park and Largo provide fire service to the High Point district, which was created in 1984. Largo serves the western section out of Station 40; Pinellas Park, the eastern side from Station 36. Both cities submit an annual budget to the county, which collects taxes for fire service from the property owners in that area.
The county has taken over much land in the district. The land houses such landmarks as the criminal court and the jail. Although Station 36 serves those entities, taxes are not collected for the service.
In addition, annexations by Largo, St. Petersburg and Pinellas Park have reduced much of the unincorporated area remaining in the district. Those property owners' taxes go to those cities rather than the county.
