PALM BAY, Fla. – Longer response times in Palm Bay have the city looking to expand its police and fire, but the city says it doesn’t want taxpayers to pay for it.
A proposal to let voters decide in November if they’d like to pay higher property taxes was shut down at last week’s council meeting.
The idea wasn’t popular with those who spoke during public comment.
Two out of three council members, Mayor Rob Medina and Kenny Johnson, ended up voting against the measure after hearing the concerns from citizens.
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Everyone still agreed the city needed to find some way to pay to increase police and fire services.
U-Haul said last year more people moved to Palm Bay and Melbourne than any part of the country.
However, public safety not keeping up with that growth is hurting emergency response times.
The city said firefighters are now taking as long as 18 or 20 minutes to answer calls. “18 minutes is unacceptable,” a man said during public comment. “I used to be a firefighter, and I have family that’s police officers. And this is something that is, it’s life and death, actually.”
Another man who addressed commissioners last Thursday has a professional background in public safety.
John Magee told News 6 reporter James Sparvero Tuesday the city should come up with a five-year plan for public safety.
“If you want more money from us, I think you owe it to us as citizens to tell us what you want to do, how are you going to improve public safety in terms of policing, and fire, and emergency services, and how are you going to accommodate the growth so that we don’t have a downturn in the quality of life for the citizens who live here,” Magee said.
For now, Medina said at a council meeting next week, the city will consider taking on more debt to build at least two new fire stations.
Another new fire station is already expected to be under construction by the end of the year.
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