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Hernando Today

Legislature Expected To Pass SHFR Bill

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By TONY HOLT

Hernando Today

Published: November 6, 2008

SPRING HILL - It's all in the Legislature's hands.

The elected representatives in Tallahassee must pass a bill that would officially make Spring Hill Fire Rescue an independent special district.

There won't be any suspense. It's as good as foregone the bill will pass, said one local lawmaker.

"This is a voter referendum," said Rep. Robert C. Schenck, R-Spring Hill. "The citizens created this. There's no way a voting body is going to go against what the citizens created."

There will be a delegation meeting held in Brooksville either in December or January when the local state senators and representatives - Schenck, Mike Fasano, Paula Dockery and Ron Schultz - will listen to public comment on the upcoming bill, Schenck said. There must be a majority vote before it goes to Tallahassee.

Once the Legislature is in session, Schenck and Fasano will work on the bill and present it to their colleagues.

After that is the big unknown.

On Tuesday, Spring Hill voters elected three out of the five fire commissioners. Once the bill passes the Legislature, there will need to be a new election for all five seats.

The top three vote getters will hold the "A seat" and serve a four-year term. The fourth and fifth-place finishers will hold a "B seat" and would serve two years before the next election. After that, anyone who holds the B seat would serve four years.

The board's current lineup essentially will have a "tryout" before the next election, but no one exactly knows how long it will be.

A special election could take place during the summer or next November. Or the district could decide to wait until November 2010. Either way, the cost of the next election will land squarely on the district's taxpayers.

Andrew Salzman, the attorney who represents the district, did not return a call for comment Wednesday.

Interim Fire Chief Mike Rampino said he is unsure when the election would take place, but he expects the district to have the millage cap and board of fire commissioners decided in the same election.

On Tuesday, Spring Hill residents voted by a wide margin to approve a referendum that would make their fire district independent from county control.

Previously, the county had oversight over the budget and other administrative matters.

"We'll do whatever we can to help them with that transition," said County Attorney Garth Coller.

The district has a five-member governing board that will be overseen by the Florida Legislature once the bill passes in the spring.

Reporter Tony Holt can be reached at 352-544-5283 or wholt@hernandotoday.com.

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