Approve entering into an IGA with the Summit Fire District for management services. 

The Summit Fire District (SFD) will compensate the City of Flagstaff $72,900.00 (annually) in consideration of the management services provided by the City.  

The FY 2016 budget does have appropriation for the additional expenditures needed to provide management service under this IGA.  The estimate for FY 2016 will be $15,454 plus a potential $20,000 for daily staffing impacts.  The revenue from Summit Fire District will offset these costs to keep the General Fund cost neutral.  Should the IGA be approved, the FY 2017 budget will be aligned for these revenues and expenditures.

1) Approve the IGA as presented.
2) Direct the Fire Chief to negotiate amended terms of the IGA with the Summit Fire District.
3) Choose not to provide management services to the Summit Fire District.

Flagstaff Fire Department.

The provision of fire/medical/rescue services in Flagstaff has been particularly challenged in the aftermath of the Great Recession.  Divergent pressures have caused numerous public agencies to look for alternatives and innovations to sustain service delivery.  The Flagstaff Fire Department has experienced an annual increase in calls for service of 8-10% and is tracking toward another increase this calendar year.  While calls for service have been on the rise, increasing pension costs associated with the unfunded obligation within the local PSPRS plan have necessitated an increase in employer contribution to 67.71% of wages.  The Fire Department workforce that would be available to respond to the increased service demands and also pay into the pension plan has undergone a reduction in force of 17% since pre-recession staffing levels.

The fire department is currently staffed with eighty-five (85) personnel.  There are seven (7) strategically located fire stations throughout the city limits of Flagstaff. Six stations are fire/EMS/rescue response stations and one is our Wildland Fire Management station.

Summit Fire District.

The Summit Fire and Medical District dates back to 1973. The Doney Park Fire District was established in 1973 and in 1977 the Timberline-Fernwood Fire District was organized in response to the Radio Fire on Mount Elden. The two departments merged into Summit Fire and Medical District in 2001. In 2006 the Summit Fire District started providing service to the Fort Valley area, and merged those two organizations into the Summit Fire and Medical District (SFMD) in 2009. SFMD responds from four fire stations with Advance Life Support engine companies. SFMD is staffed with a total of 40 fulltime employees and have lost 6 firefighter positions through retirement/attrition. Three of four engine companies have three personnel and one responds with two. SFMD serves approximately 10,000 residences and responds to the highways that run through the district.

Seizing opportunities and providing good fiscal policy has helped Summit Fire District weather the Great Recession. Since the Shultz Fire and flooding in 2010, as well as the impact of the housing market crash of 2008, the Summit Fire District is currently at 59% of the funding that was available in 2008. SFMD initiated multiple cost cutting approaches that have prevented layoffs of any firefighters. SFMD has reduced their overall liabilities, while creating a capital carry forward fund to weather these financially difficult times.
 

• Of the 81 sworn positions in the department, 18 (22.2%) of the workforce have retired in the last 5 years;
• Of the current workforce, 23 (28.3%) are eligible to retire within the next 5 years.
• Of those 23 eligible to retire in the next 5 years, 11 (13.5%) have entered the deferred retirement option plan and must retire.

Flagstaff Fire Department is one of many public agencies experiencing the wave of public employees who are leaving the workforce.  The September 2015 issue of American City and County referred to the issue as "The Retirement Tsunami".  Municipal organizations will be increasingly challenged to prepare their workforce for the void created by an increasingly large retirement of experienced workers.

The IGA provides tremendous professional development opportunities for up to four personnel.  Over 12,000 hours of experience based professional development will result from the execution of the IGA.  The experiences gained by personnel working temporarily in positions of greater authority and responsibility are very difficult to provide to our members who represent the future leadership of the department.  The ability to provide senior level chief officer and battalion level chief officer training is an even more rare opportunity.
 

Improve Operational Efficiencies.

This strategic opportunity compels us to provide for community safety through the implementation of best practices, technology, innovation and partnerships to strive to meet the needs of all citizens.  As municipal services are challenged to find new service models and eliminate redundancies, many fire departments are looking at shared resources to attain the fulfillment of their mission.  Within the State of Arizona, several fire departments have merged, formed joint powers authorities, or contracted for services similar to the City of Flagstaff's agreements with Westwood Estates and Lockett Ranch Fire Districts.  

The IGA allows Summit Fire District and the City to explore greater efficiencies by eliminating redundant efforts within both departments.  Examples include staff functions such as support services, medical quality control, support and training; firefighter safety and health, and other related functions carried out by line officers.   

Features of the IGA

Maintain Local Control.

The Flagstaff City Council retains its independent and legislative authority to exercise its powers in matters affecting fire/medical/rescue services in Flagstaff.  The Summit Fire District Board retains its powers in matters affecting services within the fire district.  Each agency retains its own budget and does not share appropriations.

Fire Chief Services.

The Flagstaff Department is not staffed adequately to enter into the IGA without increasing its resources at the command staff level.  The IGA will be executed by the creation of a temporary (and additional) Deputy Fire Chief position.  A Flagstaff Deputy Fire Chief will be assigned to Summit for day to day operations.  The Flagstaff Fire Chief will provide general management of the Summit Fire Administration and be responsible for overall administrative functions as outlined in Section 5 of the IGA.

Operational Approach.

The IGA will necessitate the increase in command staff for the Flagstaff Fire Department.  Since the IGA is a two year pilot, our proposed implementation will be to staff up for the pilot with temporary appointments that provide flexibility to distribute the professional development opportunities and to easily return to our existing structure at the end of the IGA.  

The personnel moves necessitated to implement the IGA may occasionally result in an impact to daily staffing.  The impact to daily staffing would be caused by one vacancy created at the Firefighter level, typically caused by other unscheduled leaves such as sick leave.  When this occurs, an off duty firefighter will be hired back on overtime to cover the vacancy.  The financial consideration provided by the Summit Fire District will offset this expense.  
 

As part of the IGA, the Summit Fire District will provide $72,900 in funding to pay with the cost of providing management services. These funds will provide for 4 acting and/or temporary promotions for one firefighter, one engineer, one captain, and one battalion chief. This will allow a deputy chief to be assigned to the District as a representative of the Chief's office, leaving a balance of $41,409.   These funds will be available to cover expenses with daily staffing, should they occur, along with $400 annually for vehicle insurance.  The chart below represents the estimated costs for each position and includes the costs of benefits.