If you live in West Palm Beach, your tax bill is going up next year, but the number of firefighters and paramedics will remain the same.
Under the proposed fiscal year 2027 budget, the city is planning to replace retiring Fire and Emergency Medical Services staff — not new additional positions.
That isn't sitting well with the local firefighters union, West Palm Beach Firefighters International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) Local 727.
The union's president, Brian Lamb — a retired Battalion Chief — warns the uptick in population and construction growth in West Palm Beach could delay response times.
Lamb is urging the city to use the new tax revenue to support overworked crews.
"I’m asking, give us more people to do our job. Is the simplest way I can put it," Lamb told WLRN. "Their workload for where we are asking these positions to be is stretched too thin."
Property values jumped over 9% over the past year, bringing in over $12.4 million more than last year despite a slight tax rate cut.
And non-profit properties like churches and private schools will also have to pay a fire protection fee they used to be exempt from.
But that extra $700,000 in savings won’t go to actual firefighter staff, says West Palm Beach Fire Department Lieutenant Ryan Stacy.
"You’re generating more money in the name of the fire service and you’re not adding more resources in services," Stacy told WLRN. "So if we’re gonna ask the residents to pay more and ask these non profits to pay more, let’s show them that they’re getting something in return."
West Palm Beach residents and local businesses have until September 3 to complete an input survey for the upcoming budget.
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Severe burnout hitting leadership
The union also is warning that more high-rises in Downtown West Palm Beach will introduce vertical "lag times" — precious minutes spent traversing lobbies and waiting for elevators — that delay emergency response.
Lamb argues that the city's growth is outpacing its emergency capacity, leaving the existing force to manage a swelling call volume with outdated staffing models.
He highlights this financial disparity, pointing out that new funding is failing to translate into operational support.
And rather than demanding double-digit raises, Lamb said, the union is begging for basic support positions to manage the administrative and training burdens of a department that has doubled in personnel.
While the Fire Chief, Diana J. Matty, has identified 12 desperate administrative vacancies, the union is asking for just three support staff to "stop the bleed" of field burnout, Stacy said.
Currently, a lack of administrative help forces field chiefs to "work 50 to 60 hours a week" to handle supply orders and maintain gear, he said.
Administrative backlog, recruitment and cancer
This administrative backlog is severely impacting the department's ability to manage a frightening, rising health crisis: cancer.
According to the union, over the last two years, more than 10 West Palm Beach firefighters have been diagnosed with occupational cancer, linked to combustion byproducts, diesel exhaust, and disrupted sleep cycles.
While Florida legislation helps streamline the application process of these illnesses under workers' compensation, the department lacks the personnel to manage these complex claims and oversee vital preventative healthcare.
"We need somebody that can oversee just workers' comp, back to work processes, our annual physicals that need to make sure that we're staying healthy and ready to respond," Stacy said.
Without this dedicated role, the duty of managing medical claims and maintaining two sets of heavy bunker gear for nearly 300 line personnel falls onto the backs of active field chiefs, Stacy added.
As a result, Lamb told WLRN, the compounding pressures of extreme workloads, sleep deprivation, and competitive schedules in neighboring districts are triggering a sharp decline in recruitment and retention.
Thirteen years ago, a West Palm Beach firefighter application process closed in 36 hours after receiving 400 applicants; a recent month-long opening yielded just 85 qualified candidates, Lamb said.
Ultimately, firefighters warn that without immediate investments in staffing and health management, the high standard of safety that the community expects could be impacted.
