Gilchrist County Fire Rescue added a third ambulance to expand emergency coverage, but a new performance audit found staffing shortages prevent the department from consistently keeping the unit in service.
The department has relied heavily on overtime to maintain emergency services, according to a performance audit examining its operations from October 2024 through March 2026.
Auditors found current staffing levels were enough to maintain operations, but doing so required substantial overtime and did not provide optimal coverage.
The staffing concerns come as Gilchrist County voters prepare to decide in the Nov. 3 general election whether to approve a 1-cent sales surtax for emergency fire rescue services and facilities.
Staffing also affects the county’s ability to operate its third ambulance. The audit found that Gilchrist added the unit to expand emergency response capacity. However, it was not fully staffed and coverage depended on employees working overtime. Insufficient staffing could lead to periods when the unit is unavailable.
The department serves a rural county where station locations and availability can affect how quickly emergency crews reach a call.
It averaged a response time of 13 minutes and 8 seconds in fiscal year 2024-25.
The audit also found that Gilchrist did not have a written response-time goal, which limited its ability to determine what contributed to delays.
Gilchrist County Finance Director Richard Romans said maintaining fully staffed emergency response units is the most significant financial challenge facing the county’s fire rescue program.
Overtime pay accounted for $689,120 of approximately $1.94 million in gross emergency medical services and fire rescue wages during fiscal year 2024-25. That represented 35.49% of the total gross wages paid.
Gilchrist funds EMS through a municipal services taxing unit with a rate of 0.9026 mills. The county’s fire fund also receives revenue from a special assessment.
Those sources could shift if voters approve the proposed 1-cent sales surtax. Romans described the proposal as replacement revenue rather than additional money.
“This spreads the cost of the services over a greater number of individual taxpayers as it includes both residents and nonresidents,” Romans said.
Under Florida law, the sales surtax would replace part of the money Gilchrist currently collects through property taxes and fire assessments. The county would have to reduce those existing charges by roughly the amount it expects to receive from it.
Romans said he expects the county board’s share of the surtax to be around $1.8 million, based on a Florida Department of Revenue estimate he provided to WUFT.
The proposed change would make residents and visitors who make taxable purchases in Gilchrist County help fund fire rescue services, reducing the amount collected through property taxes and fire assessments.
Counties may levy a discretionary sales surtax of up to 1% for emergency fire rescue services and facilities with voter approval. Eligible uses include firefighting and prehospital emergency medical treatment.
Gilchrist Fire Chief James Campbell declined to comment on the staffing and coverage issues identified in the audit.
Campbell told WUFT in an email last month that the county is assessing the shortfalls and evaluating potential options as part of its planning process.
“Because that process is ongoing, we will not be providing additional information or comment at this time,” Campbell wrote. “Once the county has completed its assessment and determined how it intends to move forward, additional information may be available as appropriate.”
The performance audit indicates department officials were already considering additional staffing during the 18-month audit period.
Campbell told auditors that the department would need six additional employees to meet a National Fire Protection Association benchmark of having six firefighters on scene within 14 minutes for 80% of structure fires.
Overall, the audit found the county’s fire rescue program “partially met expectations” in each of the six broad areas reviewed. Those were broken into 24 individual assessments. Seven met expectations and 17 partially met them. None was rated as not meeting expectations.
Amy Stafford, vice president of rural providers for the Florida Association of Rural EMS Providers, said staffing shortages are affecting agencies across Florida. Even urban departments are bearing the brunt.
“Keeping good employees instead of losing them to a higher-paying department is the biggest challenge for rural EMS providers,” Stafford said.
When an agency has to remove a unit due to a staffing deficit, it may rely on neighboring counties for aid.
Heavy overtime can strain both employees and budgets. Stafford has first-hand experience of these issues as fire chief of a rural Hendry County.
“We max out our budget and get told to cut it out toward the end of the budget cycle,” Stafford said. “Overworking our people and not allowing them to have a good work-life balance will cause them to get burnt out.”
The distance between a fire station and emergency call is another massive contributor to lengthy response times.
Sometimes, rural counties have to rely on volunteer fire departments to be the first responders.
Stafford said more secure funding, assistance with new stations and funding for capital equipment could help rural agencies maintain staffing and emergency coverage.
Gilchrist County’s audit ultimately shares similar challenges as what Stafford describes statewide.
Romans said the county’s focus is maintaining fully staffed emergency response units.
“From a financial perspective, these services are essential for public safety,” Romans said.