Consideration and Adoption of Resolution No. 2018-46:  A resolution approving an Intergovernmental Agreement between the City of Flagstaff and Summit Fire and Medical District for shared management and administrative services.

The City of Flagstaff has been challenged to adequately staff public safety services in the post Great Recession era. As competition for limited resources continues to increase, Fire Administration identified a means to decrease the pressure for administrative and supervisory resources by expanding on the current IGA with the SFMD. The proposed IGA creates efficiencies by consolidating certain duties of command staff and administrative/support personnel.

The District will compensate the City of Flagstaff $142,500 annually in consideration of entering into the shared management agreement. The City will invest an additional $87,500 of City funds in personnel expenses to support the shared management and administrative services agreement. The City's FY18-19 approved Budget anticipates these expenses.

Council Goals:
Personnel: Attract and retain quality staff while also ensuring adequate public safety staffing levels.

Flagstaff Regional Plan Goals:
Goal PF.1.Work across all government operations and services to prepare for the impacts of natural and human caused
hazards.
Goal PF.2. Provide sustainable and equitable public facilities, services, and infrastructure systems in an efficient and
effective manner to serve all population areas and demographics.
Goal PF.3. Provide high-quality emergency response and public safety services including law enforcement, fire, medical,
and ambulance transport service.

City Council entered into an intergovernmental agreement with the SFMD on November 17, 2015.
City Council extended the intergovernmental agreement with SFMD on December 5, 2017.

Issue:
Flagstaff Fire Department’s recommendation is to continue the relationship with Summit Fire & Medical District through a new and expanded five-year IGA.  The proposed IGA would build upon the existing relationship to gain efficiencies in operations and deployment of resources throughout the community by using lessons learned from the recently completed 2yr pilot program.

Background:
Common for municipalities who are working with ‘new norms’ created by the Great Recession is a struggle to meet current demands on staffing & equipment resources that are at pre-recession levels.  Flagstaff Fire is certainly no stranger to this challenge. 

In 2015, the City entered into a 2-year pilot program with Summit Fire & Medical District through an IGA approved by the Flagstaff City Council. The Pilot Program with Summit has been a creative approach to gain benefits in service delivery to the community/region and to maximize the utility of available resources in the area, through a shared management model and an enhanced mutual aid agreement. 
 
The Fire Department provided a City Council Report (CCR) on January 30, 2017, as a mid-term report to the Council and a similar report on March 3, 2017 to the District’s Board, wherein, based on a number of criteria (e.g., Operational Consistency, Resource Sharing, and Fiscal Impact), the parties touted accomplishments that either met or exceeded the expectations of the pilot program as originally imagined.  That said, and with the end of the pilot program in sight, the Fire Department provided the City Manager’s office with a recommendation to not only continue the relationship with Summit Fire but to expand upon it in ways that will advance the department in terms of operational capability and ensure the most effective and efficient utilization and deployment of resources throughout the community/region.
 
The City Manager’s office wanted to validate the findings presented by the Fire Department in support of their recommendation to continue the City’s relationship with Summit Fire under a new and expanded multi-year IGA.  To do so, the City Manager’s office retained the services of the Public Safety Research Group (PSRG) to examine the current Pilot Program as well as the findings presented to Council in the aforementioned CCR and then make recommendations to the City Manager’s office.  As part of their effort, PSRG was also asked to make a recommendation on the value and feasibility of the City continuing in the proposed relationship with Summit Fire. The report completed by PSRG is attached to this staff summary. 
 
Summary of Consultant’s Findings:
PSRG examined current staffing levels along with current and trending call demands on the Fire Department as part of their study in addition to performing an analytical review of the recommendations coming forward from the Fire Department.  Below is a summary of those findings:

• Personnel (current staffing levels) – While PSRG acknowledges in the Report the fiscal realities of the day, based off best practices and industry standards they do feel that the organization represented in Scenario X (Appendix B) represents a conservative picture of the staffing levels justified by present demands on the department.  To realize the additional 26 positions depicted in Scenario X the City would have to invest an additional estimated $3 million a year into personnel and equipment.
• Expanded IGA w/ Summit – Appendix A of the Report summarizes the PSRG’s findings across three (3) primary categories: 1) Response to the community; 2) Resource Sharing; and 3) Fiscal Analysis.  Across all three categories, PSRG identified that entering into the proposed extended IGA with Summit Fire would net the City excellent benefits and assume very low risk in doing so.  The Report points to a culmination of these benefits in Scenario Y (Appendix B), which reflects an organizational picture made possible through the expanded IGA and which transcends fiscal and time barriers to advance the department significantly closer to the Scenario X model and protects core services to the community/region.  

City Manager’s Office Recommendation:
The Mission of the City of Flagstaff is to protect and enhance the quality of life for all.  In doing so, the City is committed to its continued support of our public safety personnel and operations.  Realizing the fiscal constraints we anticipate to experience this upcoming year and in years to come, we recommend the approval of the proposed expanded IGA with Summit Fire District.  In return for a net additional investment of $87.5K, the City will be benefited by 8 additional shared operational and administrative support positions – positions that the City would not be able to bring on board anytime in the foreseeable future.  We commend our Fire Command staff for their hard work and innovation in the proposal in front of you for consideration tonight.