St. Johns County Puts Beachwalk Fire Station on Hold Until November Tax Vote

St. Johns County has paused construction on a promised fire station in the Beachwalk community, one of more than $100 million in capital projects the county has frozen while it waits to see whether Florida voters approve a property tax amendment in November.

Office of Management and Budget Director Wade Schroeder disclosed the pause this week during a county budget workshop. "We have over $100 million in CIPs that we have identified that are currently in some level of pause until we know the outcome of what our future revenue sources are," Schroeder told commissioners.

Fire Station 23 is one of those projects. It's meant to serve the Beachwalk and Twin Creeks area off County Road 210, one of the fastest-growing corners of the county. Schroeder said the firefighter positions tied to the station are paused right along with the building itself.

What was supposed to be built

The county first announced Station 23 as part of a five-year public safety plan unveiled in April 2024, alongside three other new fire and sheriff substations across the county. At the time, officials said the Beachwalk station would improve emergency service to 15,435 homes in that area and was expected to be finished by the end of 2028.

That plan was built on a promise: county leaders said at the time that none of the four new stations would be paid for with property tax dollars, only impact fees paid by developers and state money already secured for construction. Now, with the county's future property tax revenue itself in question, that whole capital program, along with dozens of other projects, has been put on ice while officials wait to see what the county can actually count on.

The vote that's driving the pause

The amendment behind the freeze is Amendment 3, headed to Florida voters on the Nov. 3 ballot. If it passes with the required 60% approval, it would raise the homestead exemption for non-school property taxes to $150,000 starting January 1, 2027, and to $250,000 the year after. That would cut into the tax base that funds county services, including fire rescue.

County officials have said they're separately reviewing the broader capital improvement program regardless of the vote's outcome, deferring roughly $7.9 million in projects funded by property taxes while they look for other ways to pay for growth. But the Beachwalk fire station is the most visible casualty so far, sitting in a neighborhood where new rooftops keep going up faster than the infrastructure meant to serve them.

How Beachwalk residents are reacting

Wyland Szabo has rented in Beachwalk for three years. He said a delayed fire station "can potentially be a concern depending on response times," but added he isn't losing sleep over it yet.

Asked whether the pause would change how he votes on the tax amendment, Szabo said no. "I think I'm still all for eliminating property taxes," he said. "I don't think it would sway me one way or the other."

The county hasn't said when it will decide whether to restart work on Station 23, or what happens to the site if the amendment passes and the projected revenue loss materializes. That decision is expected to hinge on the November 3 election results and on how commissioners rework the capital budget in the months that follow. Residents who want to track the amendment's official language and its potential effect on their own tax bill can find details through the St. Johns County Property Appraiser's office.

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