CITY OF TALLAHASSEE
CITY COMMISSION AGENDA ITEM
ACTION REQUESTED ON: February 25, 2009
SUBJECT/TITLE: Status – Functional Consolidation of Fire and EMS Services
TARGET ISSUE: Financial Viability of the Government

STATEMENT OF ISSUE
This agenda item provides an update on the development of an Interlocal Agreement between the City of Tallahassee and Leon County for the provision of Fire and Emergency Medical Services/Advanced Life Support services. The City is currently under contract with Leon County for the provision of fire services through June 30, 2009. The interlocal agreement for Advanced Life Support (ALS) services also expires on June 30, 2009. As directed by the City Commission, the City has been in negotiations with Leon County since the fall of 2007, to consider how best to continue providing fire services to city and county residents, with Commissioner Gillum as the City Commission appointed negotiator and Commissioner Desloge as the County Commission appointed negotiator. Out of these discussions emerged an opportunity to consider functionally consolidating these services.

Since the last update to the City Commission on January 14, 2009, staff has finalized a proposed interlocal agreement and Government Services Group (GSG), the rate consultant to the city and county, has provided preliminary information on the proposed rate structure. This agenda item is intended to provide the City Commission with an overview of what has been negotiated to date. The County will be reviewing the proposed interlocal agreement as well as the preliminary rate structure at their February 26, 2009 meeting.

RECOMMENDED ACTION
Option 1: Approve the following recommendations:

· Accept the proposed Interlocal Agreement with Leon County for the functionally consolidated provision of Fire–EMS/ALS services.

· Approve the Memorandum of Agreement extending the current agreements with Leon County for fire services and Advanced Life Support Services for an additional three months with a new expiration date of September 30, 2009 and a payment from Leon County of $1,608,460.

FISCAL IMPACT
Leon County has agreed to pay $1,608,460 for extension of the current agreement through September 30, 2009. A final recommendation on fire fee rates and structure will be presented to the City Commission in March 2009. This agreement ensures that the Fire Department is fully funded via city and county revenues.

Cindy Dick, Chief, Tallahassee Fire Department

Anita Favors Thompson, City Manager

Andrew Gillum ,City Commissioner

For Information, please contact: Ricardo Fernandez (891-8580) or Raoul Lavin, (891-8488).

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL/ISSUE ANALYSIS
HISTORY/FACTS & ISSUES
The city is currently under contract with Leon County for the provision of fire services in the unincorporated area through June 30, 2009. The city and county also have an interlocal agreement for the provision of Advanced Life Support (ALS). Under terms of this agreement, Leon County provides funding, training and medical oversight to the City for ALS, which are provided at five incorporated fire stations through the ALS Agreement. This agreement also expires on June 30, 2009. In a letter dated June 13, 2007, the City provided written notice to Leon County of the city’s intent to renegotiate the terms of the existing Fire Services Interlocal Agreement (FSA) and the ALS agreement. Under provisions of the current FSA, the city was required to give such notice to the county within twenty-four months of the contract expiration date of June 30, 2009. However, had the city not exercised this provision, the existing contract would have automatically extended for an additional five year period.

As part of the renegotiation efforts the City Commission appointed Commissioner Gillum as the lead City Commissioner to work with city staff to renegotiate the terms of the FSA and the ALS Interlocal Agreements with the county, with the County Commission appointing Commissioner Desloge as the County Commission’s designee to work with county staff in this renegotiation process. Various updates have been provided to the Commission on the status of the negotiations including updates on April 6, 2008, July 2, 2008 and January 14, 2009. As part of the last update, Commissioner Gillum provided a summary of the overall parameters of the proposed interlocal agreement as well as the agreement by both parties to implement a countywide fire services fee. The City Commission also approved the scheduling of a public hearing for February 25, 2009 as intent to use the uniform method of levy as the collection mechanism for the countywide fire services fee. At this time the city does not anticipate using this method of collection and staff’s recommendation is that the City Commission not approve this option. A public hearing on this issue is scheduled on the agenda for the February 25, 2009 meeting. Since this hearing has been advertised per statutory requirements, staff recommends that the hearing be held, speakers heard, if any, and that the City Commission vote not to pass the resolution regarding uniform method of levy.

Service Enhancements
The proposed interlocal agreement includes various service level enhancements. These include the addition of one Firefighter/ Emergency Medical Technician per shift in each of the rural fire stations. Current staffing levels in these stations are two personnel per shift. The increase in staffing will create a safer and more effective environment on emergency incidents. Additionally, it will allow the water tankers responding from those stations to be available for response at all times while two personnel remain available for medical responses. Current staffing configurations require that the water tanker remain out of service, in the station, when the assigned personnel are responding to a medical emergency. Increased staffing levels also create flexibility in the deployment of ambulances. Ambulances that are currently deployed in the unincorporated area at all times may be deployed within the city limits with initial response to medical calls being provided by the TFD personnel in those area.

Interlocal Agreement
The proposed interlocal agreement is included as Attachment 1. As previously indicated, major tenets of the interlocal agreement reflect a model for the functional consolidation of Fire-EMS/ALS services to the community, which provides for:

· A full commitment to the integrated and coordinated deployment of the operational resources of Fire and EMS through the establishment of the new joint dispatch function.

· Establishment of an Administrative Management Committee (AMC) consisting of the City Manager and County Administrator that will make recommendations on policy to both governments. The AMC will also have responsibility for the hiring and firing of the Fire Chief and EMS Chief to ensure optimal operational and logistical coordination and greatest resource efficiency of the system are achieved (County Administrator and City Manager, both to hire, either to fire).

· Co-location of Fire and EMS command at the proposed new joint dispatch facility.

· The continued utilization of the most highly effective performance models to continue to improve upon the unique service delivery of both Fire and Emergency Medical Services.

· The continued utilization of management practices and most efficient staffing patterns for the individual services to provide for the greatest ability to contain costs into the future.

· The honoring of existing collective bargaining agreements, continued utilization of Chapter 175, F.S. pension funding, and continued use of FRS benefits for EMS.

· The incorporation of an agreement on the provision ALS (mirroring the terms of the existing ALS agreement).

· The establishment of a dedicated source (fire services fee) to fund all assessable costs associated with providing fire services countywide and utilizing either the uniform method of collection or the City’s utility billing system for collections. The county, prior to this agreement, has never fully implemented the fire services fee, leaving a gap in full-cost recovery by the City. This agreement provides for full-cost recovery over the contract period.

As the new interlocal agreement would become effective October 1, 2009, an extension of the current contract will be required. This is addressed later in the agenda item.

Proposed Fire Services Rate Structure & Preliminary Rates
As the City Commission is aware, the City began the fire services assessment program in 1999 and has updated the rates as a result of a second fire service fee study in 2005. Historically the city approved rates for five-year periods with the intent of conducting rate studies prior to the end of the five-year period. The city's current rate structure has been in place since 2005 and a new rate study would have been conducted prior to 2010 to ensure recovery of fire operating costs from the rates. As the current rate structure is not recovering the cost of fire services, it was anticipated that increases in the existing rate would be required.

As a result of negotiations between the city and county, approval was provided to contract with GSG for the development of a countywide fire services assessment program. A proposed rate structure and preliminary rates have been provided by GSG. The proposed rate structure calls for the establishment of two distinct service delivery zones. Zone 1, the core area boundary, is based upon parcels being located within five miles of two fire stations. Zone 2 includes all parcels outside Zone 1 within Leon County. The two zones have been identified due to the level of response. Parcels within five miles of two stations receive service from secondary responding units with minimal response time increases. Therefore, if the primary responding station is engaged in another emergency or additional equipment is required, the responders from the secondary station will arrive with minimal delay. Parcels in Zone 2 do not have a secondary fire station within five road miles and may have extended response times from secondary units. Therefore, if the primary responding station is engaged in another emergency, the time to arrival of a secondary unit may be in excess of typical response times to the area.

The following map provides an illustration of the zones.

The proposed interlocal agreement contemplates collection of the fire services fee either via the city's utility bill mechanism or through a non-ad valorem assessment on the property tax bill. After discussions between city and county staff it has been determined that the city’s utility billing mechanism is the most efficient billing method. For county residents currently not on the city's utilities, the intent is that property owners will be sent a quarterly bill for fire services. If these customers do not pay the fee by the end of the fiscal year, the county will place the outstanding amount plus the following year’s amount, i.e. two years worth of fees, as a non ad valorem assessment on the property's tax bill. The county is responsible for full payment whether or not these fees are collected from the customers.

Although rates have not been finalized and staff from the city and county are still working with GSG to refine the final rates, preliminary rates have been provided to staff. For single-family customers in Zone 1 and inside the incorporated city limits, the preliminary fee would be $190 annually, or an increase of $34 per year. For single-family customers in Zone 2 and inside the incorporated city limits, the fee would be $171 annually, or an increase of $15 per year. For multi-family customers in Zone 1 and inside the incorporated city limits, the fee would be $139 annually, or an increase of $55 per year. For multi-family customers in Zone 2 and inside the incorporated city limits, the fee would be $46 annually, or a decrease of $38 per year. The following table provides a summary of call distributions within each of the zones as well as preliminary rates.

Proposed fire services rates will recover approximately 85% of fire operation expenditures. As the City Commission is aware, the courts have indicated that fire services assessments cannot be utilized to fund medical services. To this end, under the current proposed interlocal agreement Leon County will provide payment to the city to cover the costs associated with the provision of medical services by the fire department. It is both parties’ intent that the next rate study will look at both fire services and medical services when developing future rate structures.

The City Commission does not need to approve the preliminary rates at this time. Based upon City Commission input regarding the preliminary rates, staff will work with GSG to finalize the rates over the next few weeks. Staff will be bringing final recommended rates for approval as part of the FY2010 budget process.

Extension of Existing Contract
As indicated above, the current contracts with Leon County expire on June 30, 2009. Under the current terms of the contract, Leon County pays the city for fire services in the unincorporated area of the county, a proportionate share of station 15 and for ALS services. The proposed fire services fee is not recommended to be implemented until October 1, 2009 to provide staff the necessary time to set-up the new countywide fee. For example, staff will have to measure square footage for all commercial buildings for all customers not currently on the city’s utilities in order to determine the rate that will be charged. Staff is recommending that the current contract be extended for the remaining three months of the fiscal year. Both parties have agreed upon a negotiated net payment of $1,608,460 for the remaining quarter. Attachment 4 provides a Memorandum of Agreement extending the current contracts until September 30, 2009.

OPTIONS

Option 1: Approve the following recommendations:

· Accept the proposed Interlocal Agreement with the Leon County for the functionally consolidated provision of Fire–EMS/ALS services.

· Approve the Memorandum of Agreement extending the current agreements with Leon County for fire services and Advanced Life Support Services for an additional three months with a new expiration date of September 30, 2009 and a payment from Leon County of $1,608,460.

Pros

· Approving the interlocal agreement will provide for a fully funded joint fire services operation allowing for cross-training opportunities.
· Enhanced staffing in county stations.
· Safer and more effective operations.
· Flexibility in deployment of ambulances.

Cons

If this agreement or some variation to this agreement is not approved:

· No contract after June 30, 2009, and the potential for two separate fire operations in Leon County would exist.
· City could continue to fund deficiency in fire services.
· Allows county input into hiring and firing of fire chief.
· Current staffing levels in the unincorporated area will result in an ISO rating decrease under current ISO rating standards.
· The city will not have input regarding the level of availability, training and response provided by Leon County EMS.
· Increases the barriers to future redeployment, reconfiguration and coordination of system wide Fire and EMS resources.

Option 2: Do not approve the proposed Interlocal Agreement with the Leon County for the functionally consolidated provision of Fire–EMS/ALS services but approve the contract extension for fire services and Advanced Life Support (ALS) services to provide for additional time to negotiate contract renewal with Leon County.

Option 3: Do not approve the proposed Interlocal Agreement with the Leon County for the functionally consolidated provision of Fire–EMS/ALS services and do not approve the contract extension for fire services and Advanced Life Support Services.

Option 4: Provide alternate direction.

ATTACHMENTS

Attachment 1 Proposed Interlocal Agreement Regarding the Provision of Fire Rescue & Emergency Medical Services
Attachment 2 Memorandum of Agreement – Contract Extensions