Fort Myers Beach will keep its own fire district after voters overwhelmingly rejected a proposed merger with the neighboring Iona-McGregor fire district on Tuesday, November 3. More than 75% of Fort Myers Beach voters — 2,413 votes in all — cast ballots against combining the two districts, according to local reporting.
The result was split across the two districts: Fort Myers Beach voted no, while Iona-McGregor approved the proposal, with 57.13% voting yes. But the merger could take effect only if a majority in each district supported it, so the beach’s rejection blocked the plan despite Iona-McGregor’s approval. The separate tallies and the requirement for both districts to approve are reflected in the Lee County election results and the law authorizing the referendum.
The vote puts an end, for now, to a proposal that would have reshaped fire protection along a stretch of Southwest Florida coastline. As reported by The News-Press, the Fort Myers Beach community will keep its own fire district after its voters declined the merger with the adjacent Iona-McGregor district.
The proposed merger would have combined the Fort Myers Beach and Iona-McGregor fire districts.
The merger was more than a shared-services arrangement: the law would have abolished the Fort Myers Beach Fire Control District and transferred its territory, assets and liabilities to Iona-McGregor. During the transition, the combined district would have been governed by Iona-McGregor’s five commissioners and two Fort Myers Beach commissioners, whose terms would expire at the 2028 general election. Those provisions were laid out in the 2026 Florida law establishing the merger plan.
What Was On The Line For Beach Residents
In the days before the vote, the stakes were framed in stark terms. An earlier News-Press report, published before Tuesday's election, warned that Fort Myers Beach could lose its fire department entirely if the merger went through — a possibility that loomed over the community as it weighed the two outcomes.
Neighboring Districts, Diverging Outcomes
Fort Myers Beach's fire district sits adjacent to the Iona-McGregor district, and the two had been eyed as a potential single operation under the failed proposal. Instead, Fort Myers Beach residents chose to maintain local control and representation over their own fire protection rather than folding into the neighboring district.
A December 2025 feasibility study found no compelling operational or financial reason to merge the districts. It concluded that current station locations and staffing were appropriate and would not change under a merger, while projecting additional costs and possible Iona-McGregor tax-rate increases of up to 0.5 mills over five years. The districts also provide different services: Fort Myers Beach operates advanced-life-support ambulance transport, while Iona-McGregor relies on Lee County for patient transport. The findings and service differences appear in the districts’ merger feasibility study.
The lopsided margin — more than three-quarters of voters opposed — signaled a clear preference among Fort Myers Beach residents to keep their fire district independent.
