Brevard County’s Ocean Rescue had a busy Memorial Day weekend, with lifeguards saving 14 swimmers who had been caught in dangerous rip currents. Another 10 were rescued from the Indian River Lagoon after a boat capsized.
This happened as the county rushes to fill lifeguard vacancies while some are calling for more lifeguard coverage on the beaches.
As usual, funding is an issue.
WKMG reporter James Sparvero recently asked County Commissioner Thad Altman about the cost of staffing lifeguards on every beach in the county.
“It would be a significant budget increase,” Altman answered. “And I would be for increasing the budget. I think it’s important that we provide as much safety as possible.”
More money toward lifeguards and ocean safety sounds great, but where is that money going to come from. The total budget for Ocean Rescue in the current fiscal year is $3,770,492, of which $1,566,393 comes from the Tourism Development Office (TDO).
Municipalities like Melbourne Beach, Indialantic and Cocoa Beach chip in a relatively small amount toward lifeguard funding. A few years ago, the county tried to get those municipalities to pay significantly more. Maybe it’s time to revisit that thought.
I’d like to know what you think. And that brings us to the Question of the Week:
Should Space Coast municipalities pay more to help fund lifeguards?
You can scan the QR code that is on the print edition page or go to https://www.floridatoday.com/opinions-columns/. Please leave a comment telling us why you voted the way you did. In order for your comment or email to be published on our website and in next week’s print edition, you must include your first and last name and please include your town/city of residence in the body of your comment. You can also shoot me an email with “LIFEGUARD” in the subject line. I look forward to reading your responses.
And as always, thanks for participating.
Contact Torres at jtorres@floridatoday.com. You can follow him on X @johnalbertorres. Florida video editor Rob Landers contributed to this report.Support local journalism and become a subscriber. Visit floridatoday.com/subscribe
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Question of the Week: Should municipalities pay more for lifeguards?
Reporting by John A. Torres, Florida Today / Florida Today
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