Missing Money & Fire Station

$20 Million Collected. 10 Years Passed. Still No Fire Station. Where Did the Money Go?

ST GEORGE, LA — In 2015, St. George Fire Protection District voters overwhelmingly approved new property taxes to build a fire station near the Bluebonnet Boulevard corridor. Fire Chief Gerard Tarleton personally promised that the department would “immediately begin looking for land” to address dangerously slow response times in the area. At the time, Chief Tarleton warned:

“It's about public safety and it's about protecting lives and people's property. So, we're happy and tomorrow morning the job starts and we'll start planning," Tarleton explained.

— WAFB, May 3, 2015

Yet today, a decade and approximately $20 million later, not a single fire station exists.

Instead of delivering on their promises, St. George Fire leadership returned to voters again in 2018—securing another 10-year extension of these taxes—again pledging to build new stations. Chief Tarleton assured residents:

“If approved, the fire chief says they plan to use the money to improve their current facilities and build a new fire station in the Nicholson/Bluebonnet area.”

— WAFB, April 24, 2018

Today in 2025, there is still no Bluebonnet fire station. Not even a temporary one. Or anything in the works.

Timeline of Promises vs. Reality

• May 2, 2015: Taxes approved to build the new Bluebonnet fire station.

• April 28, 2018: Taxes extended another 10 years—still no station built.

• March 21, 2024: Firefighters’ union raised public concerns and a “temporary station” design contract approved but never executed as “no funds have been expended” — so even now, nothing has been constructed.

• April 26, 2025: Ten years passed. No land secured. No station built. Over $20 million collected.

  
  

Meanwhile…

• The department expenditures focused on headquarters and administrative offices.

• The department pays an attorney and is targeting the very firefighters who risk their lives to serve the public.

• The promised protection for Bluebonnet residents remains nonexistent.

Instead of investing in public safety, the St. George Fire Board diverted public resources to expand bureaucracy and attack its own frontline heroes.

“This board has failed and should be held accountable” union officials say.

The Public Deserves Answers:

• Where is the Bluebonnet fire station voters paid for in 2015?

• Where is the $20 million collected from taxpayers?

• Why is St. George Fire suing firefighters instead of building fire stations?

“Our community placed its trust—and its hard-earned money—in the hands of this fire board and administration,” says the union. “Ten years later, they have delivered lawsuits, headquarters expansions, and broken promises. Taxpayers and firefighters deserve transparency, not betrayal.”