"Thinking to get at once all the gold the goose could give, he (they) killed it and opened it only to find………nothing”
Aesop, 550 B.C.

The Deerfield Beach firefighters are about to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. However, they are the ones who are going to be committing financial suicide if they are not careful. Their leadership is about to lead the younger ones over the precipice as they seek to intimidate the Mayor and City Commissioners into a really bad deal for Deerfield Beach taxpayers. Their demands for automatic three percent cost-of-living increases on their pensions AFTER they are retired, in addition to the three percent annual amounts while they are still working, will amount to more than a $2 million additional tax burden on the citizens and businesses in this community.
We simply cannot afford to have more financial burden put on our homes, businesses and rental properties, at the same time that insurance rates have skyrocketed with up to 600 percent increases, and Florida Power and Light Company gives us double-digit increases. Something has to give, and the City needs to start reining expenses in, not spending more. Frankly, if they don’t, many people and businesses in this community, being at their financial breaking point, will join a tax revolution unlike anything seen around here since the early 1970s, when nearly all the politicians were thrown out!
Back to the firefighters. It is not as if we’re not already paying enough for this “service.” With a budget exceeding $18 million for 133 firefighters, which amounts to over $135,000 per fire fighter per year, we are spending more than enough! Maybe it is time to go back to volunteer firefighters again, like we used to have in Deerfield.
Maybe that is the position the City should start with in their next negotiation. After all, you can only get so many golden tax dollars out of the geese in this town, and this goose, for one, has had enough.

By David Eller