Even before the recent passing of House Bill 203 (Elimination of Non-school Property for Homesteads), there have been a flurry of rumors advocating for consolidation between Martin County Fire Rescue Department and the City of Stuart Fire Rescue.
The rumors are not new. They’ve been happening for a while with more well-known community members, including some Martin County Fire Rescue members and supporters, strategically pushing information out with the most common statement being that consolidation makes sense because, allegedly, Martin County can provide services for less than the City of Stuart.
The rumors have even made their way to Tallahassee where, if the rumors are to be believed, certain people affiliated with Martin County Fire Rescue are having discussions with state representatives and even making calls to Governor DeSantis to request the closure of the City’s Fire Rescue Department and to force consolidation.
What prompts the rumors changes. Interestingly, during this latest round of rumors, the timing is around a new Fire Rescue station opening in Jupiter.
They are allegedly offering transfers to their facility allowing personnel to keep their rank and pay, meaning nobody has to start their career over. It is unclear how it could affect someone’s pension.
The theory is that the County will lose some good people to a neighboring district and consolidation is the easiest way to supplement and round out staffing.
But like everything these days, the jockeying for consolidations seems to be strictly political.
Differences between the City & County Services & Staff
The City of Stuart maintains an ISO (Insurance Services Office) Class 1 rating, which is the highest possible, achieved by only about 400 departments nationwide.
An ISO rating is a method of scoring a fire department’s ability to protect the community.
- Based on the Fire Suppression Rating Schedule (FSRS), focusing on 50% fire department capabilities (staffing, training), 40% water supply, and 10% emergency communications.
- Performance Metrics: Requires fast response times, adequate equipment, and robust fire prevention/community outreach programs.
- Eligibility: Typically applies to properties within 5 road miles of a fire station.
- Impact: Represents the highest level of fire suppression readiness, which helps insurance companies set lower premiums.
Martin County covers a larger area and much of Martin County is unincorporated. Martin County has an ISO Class 2 rating. It is still an achievement, but insurance rates, generally speaking, are higher in unincorporated Martin County as a result.
Also of importance is the difference in the hours worked between the City and County staff.
In the City of Stuart, the work week for Fire Rescue staff is 48 hours per week. If an employee works between 48 and 56 hours in a week they are paid straight time. They receive overtime (time and a half) for anything over 56 hours.
At the county, their work week is also 48 hours, but their overtime begins the minute they work in excess of 48 hours.
This plays in to the departments’ respective budgets, so the difference should be noted.
The Most Recent PR Efforts
On January 9, 2026, Louis “Joly” Boglioli, the then-interim City Manager who was also simultaneously serving in his primary role as the Finance Director, sent an email to the City Commission.
“Commissioners, I had shared with you several weeks ago about the concerns of the Fire department budget not being sustainable and that is (sic) now reached the point where our Fire Department represents a higher millage cost than the County MSTU for fire. There was no discussion or feedback, and it was intended as an FYI, more from the Finance Director than the Interim City Manager.
Shortly after that, there was some ‘chatter’ on Facebook about the County taking over the City Fire and the merits of such a consolidation. I have also now been invited to a meeting next week with the County to discuss the Interlocal Agreement for fire Mutual Aid. Then today I took a meeting with Tom Campenni, and the content of the meeting was about the 2026 budget, the size of the Fire Department, their staffing levels, and how that cost is represented as a millage. I am the actual individual who dispelled the previous attempts over the last 30 years to consolidate fire because it did not make financial sense for the City, and those same factors are now flipped the other way. I shared only the same public information that is available in the budget and in public record emails.
Given the multiple coincidences (which I do not believe in coincidences), I am suspecting some mention of consolidation of services in the ‘Friends’ publication or online shortly, and possibly at this meeting next week. However, this is simply my speculation and opinion, and I will of course inform the Commission if anything relevant to this topic becomes more solid.”
Fast forward to January 18, 2026, and, in fact, Mr. Campenni published an article “Time to Rethink How Stuart Provides Fire / Rescue Services.”
In his article, he stated that the City of Stuart provides services to its residents at a higher rate than the County does for its residents, citing an email from Mr. Boglioli that included the statement, “The County charges 2.6XXX mills for fire service. However, our 2026 Fire budget (not actual) now represents 3.1 mills at $12,054,538. And with the upcoming addition of capital outlay for the 3 new apparatuses, and their debt service, the fire budget increases to over $15M, which is 3.9XXX mills (to put that in terms, our $16M of Ad Valorem we get to spend, Fire would be $15M of that; Fire would be 4 mills of the 4.9 mills we are charging).”
Coming from the Finance Director, you would assume that is a true and correct statement.
But let’s look at some math.
The Math
If you read the article posted by Mr. Campenni stating that the millage rate at the County was better than the one offered by the City, you would agree that the County can do it more efficiently, but that’s not the whole story.
The devil is in the details.
The way the budgets are prepared and calculated for the respective Fire Rescue units are not the same.
At the City, the millage assigned to taxpayers includes Fire Rescue’s budget. But Fire Rescue also takes in revenue that is not accounted for in that initial assignment of their millage rate.
Conversely, at the County, taxpayers are billed specifically for Fire Rescue. The taxes we pay are one part of the revenue they take in to operate. PLUS they take money from the General Fund to balance their budget.
So let’s start with the City of Stuart
The City of Stuart charges a 4.9 in millage.
To calculate millage, it is the tax owed for every $1,000 of a property’s assessed value.
A 4.9 millage rate in the City of Stuart means that for every $1,000 in value, that property owner pays $4.90 for services.
That millage rate is not exclusively Fire Rescue. The stated millage for Fire Rescue, according to the previously mentioned email from Mr. Boglioli and repeated number in the article from Mr. Campenni is stated as 3.1.
What Mr. Boglioli neglected to state to his Commissioners and what Mr. Campenni took at face value is that the City also received the following last year in revenue towards the Fire Rescue Budget:
- $785,953 – Contract with Sewall’s Point to provide services
- $2,200,000 – Ambulance Fees
- $100,000 – Inspection Fees
- $12,000 – False Alarm Fees
Credit for these services brings the millage to 2.38.
If you add the Fire Assessments, which every City of Stuart property owner pays, at a stated revenue of $1,745,328, the millage is brought down even further to 1.911.
The adjusted rate for a homeowner is 2.38 millage points or 1.911 millage points, depending on which calculation you use.
Now Let's Look at Martin County
On every Martin County property tax bill for those who are exclusively Martin County residents (meaning not in the City of Stuart or incorporated entity), there is a charge for an MSTU Fire Rescue Unincorporated at a rate of 2.6376 millage rate.
An MSTU (Municipal Service Taxing Unit) is a special property tax district for unincorporated areas that funds specific local services—such as fire/rescue, parks, or road maintenance—not covered by general county taxes.
So a 2.6376 millage rate in the County means that for every $1,000 in value, that homeowner pays basically $2.64 cents.
This millage rate is base revenue needed for Fire Rescue to operate plus they receive ambulance fees and other money that contribute to their funding.
What is not accounted in the general sentiments, like in the email calculations noted by Mr. Boglioli in his emails nor by Mr. Campenni in his article, are the facts that the City of Stuart has revenue not being credited towards millage calculations.
Nor is it mentioned that the County is drawing millions of dollars from the General Fund to basically balance its budget every year. This is in addition to the millage they are collecting from taxpayers already.
It should be noted that in 2026, Martin County Fire Rescue is anticipating taking $9,195,641 from the General Fund to offset any deficit.
EVERY taxpayer in Martin County pays into the General Fund.
So, even if we stick with just the taxed rate of 2.6376 millage rate, not even accounting for the money coming the General Fund, the City’s adjusted rate of 2.38 or 1.911 is significantly less than the County’s millage.
Then There is the Interlocal Agreement
On October 21, 2021, Martin County and the City of Stuart entered into an Interlocal Agreement (ILA) specific to the services they will provide one another when it comes to Fire Rescue efforts.
It is an automatic aid agreement meaning, if a call is sent out, both parties will automatically provide aid but there is a catch.
Each call has a value. The agreement below is the fee schedule created and agreed to in 2021.
If a call is in the County and the City responds, the City bills the County. And vice versa if a call in the City and the County responds, then the County bills the City.
Martin County and the City of Stuart are the only municipalities that could be found in which a mutual aid agreement has a financial caveat to the agreement. The argument is that there are charges for “soft goods”.
However, Martin County has mutual aid agreements with St. Lucie County, Okeechobee County, and Palm Beach County, but no money is requested, required, or exchanged.
The amounts to participate in the fees for service have increased since this original agreement. However, the amount paid by the City to the County has decreased year-over-year.
- 2022 – The City paid $137,275 to the County to reimburse for the calls they attended.
- 2023 – The City paid $123,250 to the County to reimburse for the calls they attended.
- 2024 – The City paid $41,175 to the County to reimburse for the calls they attended.
- 2025 – The City paid $26,937 to the County to reimburse for the calls they attended.
- 2026 – The City has budgeted $60,000 to reimburse the County.
The reduction in fees can be attributed to the City adding a fourth Rescue, which means the County ran fewer medical calls for emergencies in the City. The reduction in fees also coincides with City of Stuart – Station 3 being opened January 2024, allowing for services to be more readily available to its residence as properties had been annexed into the City for development.
The only fee that is non-negotiable as part of the ILA is the fee for First Due at a rate of $6,000 per year. First Due is the system used by dispatch to process the calls they receive.
So Now What?
The County budget for Fire Rescue has been touted as being “only” at a millage rate of 2.6376 and using that as proof that the County is more efficient than the City when it comes to providing services specific to Fire Rescue.
Again, using just the taxed rate of 2.6376 millage rate for the County, the City’s adjusted rate of 2.38 or 1.911 is significantly less than the County’s millage.
But the budgets for each show that there is more that contribute to the costs to run the departments than the millage billed to taxpayers.
If the County’s Fire Rescue needs more than the 2.6376 millage points as they apparently need money from the General Fund to operate, then they should be submitting a budget request to the Martin County Board of County Commissioners that is all encompassing that does not require money to be drawn down from the General Fund. It is a fair question to ask why Martin County Fire Rescue would just not increase the millage rate to offset what they are actually spending.
In order for taxpayers to have a truly earnest conversation about who is more efficient, we need to see comparable budgets with all revenue and expenses to truly compare what is being spent by whom with out the politics of PR by select individuals.
In the meantime, the political jockeying and rumors will continue. And the Interlocal Agreement will stay intact even though the County has no other such arrangement with any other municipality.
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