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St. Pete has $10 million budget gap, may charge fire service fee to close it listen

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Tags: Steve Kornell, St. Pete City Council, St. Pete Fire Department, Darden Rice, People's Budget Review, regressive tax, fire readiness fee

St. Pete City Council is considering whether to impose a fee on properties to pay for the city’s fire services. On Thursday, council will vote on whether to implement the suggestion proposed by Mayor Bill Foster in order to avoid cutting city services. City Council member Steve Kornell voted against the measure on first reading in June, but it advanced anyway.

“It bothered me – especially as a social worker – that now we’re going to say this is a fair way to do it because grandma who li...