Martin County Fire Rescue seeks $77 million budget amid staffing and retention concerns
By Justin Breckenridge
July 20, 2026 at 12:05 PM EDT
Martin County Fire Rescue is seeking a $77 million budget for the upcoming fiscal year, a roughly $4 million increase over last year, as the department continues to address staffing needs driven by population growth and increasing emergency calls.
Fire Chief Chad Cianciulli told county commissioners that personnel expenses account for nearly all of the department's budget.
"What I want the public to actually understand, the lion's share of our budget, 93% is people," he said.
Cianciulli said the department's staffing levels remained largely unchanged between 2009 and 2018, even as demand for emergency services continued to rise.
"But from that timeframe to where we are now, our call load has increased by 63%. So what we were doing was leaning the system out, continue to lean it to keep up with the demand. That 63%, it caught up to us. And we had to actually put five additional rescues on the road to keep up with the demand of the public because the calls were coming in so fast and so rapid, we had to maintain a level of service. The problem is we didn't have the people to put on those five additional trucks. So what did we do? We funded those trucks 100% with overtime," he said.
Since then, the department has added 62 employees through a combination of grants and county funding, including 24 firefighter-paramedics and 38 firefighters.
Cianciulli said the department's focus has shifted from hiring to retaining those employees, warning that many are pursuing opportunities elsewhere.
"Right now we have 40 qualified firefighters that are in the pipeline to get hired in a department down South, 40 of them. If we lose 40, that is catastrophic to this organization. Heck, if I lose half that, that is detrimental to this organization," he said.
He said replacing firefighter-paramedics can be particularly costly because of overtime, recruitment, salaries and training expenses required to fill vacancies.
"It cost us $842,000 when we're in a state of being mandatory overtime to replace one firefighter paramedic. I got 40 in the pipeline right now," he said.
Cianciulli also pointed to financial uncertainty surrounding a proposed homestead exemption tax measure, which he said could significantly reduce the department's future funding.
He said the firefighters' union opted not to reopen its contract for higher wages or benefits because of those concerns.
"They also know if the homestead exemption tax passes, the first year to fire rescue alone, it's going to be a $9.5 million reduction just to fire rescue. And then the second year, it's going to be an additional $7 million. In two years, that's $16.5 million of a reduction to our budget. They know all of that, and yet collectively they voted to keep that contract closed because they understand the position you're going to be in to make tough decisions. They understand the uneasiness of the state right now. They understand the county employees of how they feel the anxiety right now. And they made sure that they put the community before their own needs and they kept this thing shut," he said.
The Martin County Board of County Commissioners tentatively approved Fire Rescue's budget request. The proposal remains subject to change during upcoming budget hearings.
Fire Chief Chad Cianciulli told county commissioners that personnel expenses account for nearly all of the department's budget.
"What I want the public to actually understand, the lion's share of our budget, 93% is people," he said.
Cianciulli said the department's staffing levels remained largely unchanged between 2009 and 2018, even as demand for emergency services continued to rise.
"But from that timeframe to where we are now, our call load has increased by 63%. So what we were doing was leaning the system out, continue to lean it to keep up with the demand. That 63%, it caught up to us. And we had to actually put five additional rescues on the road to keep up with the demand of the public because the calls were coming in so fast and so rapid, we had to maintain a level of service. The problem is we didn't have the people to put on those five additional trucks. So what did we do? We funded those trucks 100% with overtime," he said.
Since then, the department has added 62 employees through a combination of grants and county funding, including 24 firefighter-paramedics and 38 firefighters.
Cianciulli said the department's focus has shifted from hiring to retaining those employees, warning that many are pursuing opportunities elsewhere.
"Right now we have 40 qualified firefighters that are in the pipeline to get hired in a department down South, 40 of them. If we lose 40, that is catastrophic to this organization. Heck, if I lose half that, that is detrimental to this organization," he said.
He said replacing firefighter-paramedics can be particularly costly because of overtime, recruitment, salaries and training expenses required to fill vacancies.
"It cost us $842,000 when we're in a state of being mandatory overtime to replace one firefighter paramedic. I got 40 in the pipeline right now," he said.
Cianciulli also pointed to financial uncertainty surrounding a proposed homestead exemption tax measure, which he said could significantly reduce the department's future funding.
He said the firefighters' union opted not to reopen its contract for higher wages or benefits because of those concerns.
"They also know if the homestead exemption tax passes, the first year to fire rescue alone, it's going to be a $9.5 million reduction just to fire rescue. And then the second year, it's going to be an additional $7 million. In two years, that's $16.5 million of a reduction to our budget. They know all of that, and yet collectively they voted to keep that contract closed because they understand the position you're going to be in to make tough decisions. They understand the uneasiness of the state right now. They understand the county employees of how they feel the anxiety right now. And they made sure that they put the community before their own needs and they kept this thing shut," he said.
The Martin County Board of County Commissioners tentatively approved Fire Rescue's budget request. The proposal remains subject to change during upcoming budget hearings.