Tice Fire Protection and Rescue District History
In October of 1971 the Lee County Board of Commissioners started a department known as Lee County Fire Control. Prior to that date the County contracted with the City of Fort Myers for fire protection. Lee County Fire Control served the unincorporated areas of the County excepting Cape Coral, Bonita, Lehigh Acres, Ft. Myers Beach, North Fort Myers, Iona-McGregor, Pine Island, Sanibel, Captiva, and Boca Grande. This department had three (3) stations with paid personnel located at Page Field, South Trail, and Tice.
The area surrounding the Tice station had a Class Eight (8) Insurance Services Office rating, while Dunbar and Buckingham were rated as Class Ten (10). The Tice Fire Protection & Rescue Services District was created by the state legislature subject to referendum of the voters in the District. This took place in 1976. The District encompassed approximately 44 sq. miles. The District requested an insurance rating review. The area surrounding the Tice and Dunbar stations improved to a Class Six (6) Insurance Services Office rating, and the Buckingham area was improved to a Class Nine (9).
The District included a wide variety of property uses. There were heavy industry areas in Dunbar and medium industry in the Ortiz Ave. area. When the interstate was completed, the Luckett Rd.- Interstate 75 area was developed into an industrial area. Palm Beach Blvd. was the major commercial area in the District. Residential areas comprise the remaining Dunbar and Tice areas. These are normally one and two family dwelling units with paved streets, water, and sewer services. The Buckingham area was more "rural" in character. Vacant parcels were widespread on the southern and the eastern areas of the District.
The District boundaries included five public schools, Lee County Mosquito Control District, the State of Florida's Gulf Coast Center, and numerous other county properties, including its landfill. In the 1990's, Lee County completed construction of a $200,000,000 resource recovery incinerator and also constructed their recycle facility within the Tice Fire District. These properties were exempted from taxation by the District because of state statutes.
Through the years the city of Fort Myers has annexed significant vacant tracts of land. In March of 2003 the voters of the Dunbar and Bell Vue enclaves voted to become part of Fort Myers. This removed two public schools from the District's jurisdiction.
The District currently enjoys a "class 4/9" rating from the Insurances Service Office. This is one of the lowest rating in the County. Areas of the District still laboring under a "class 9" are solely due to the absence of a water supply utility, which is a Lee County government responsibility. The Lee County School District has constructed a new middle school located behind the Lehigh High School. Lee County is in the process of expanding the waste to energy's capacity by 50%. Both of these facilities are currently tax exempt.