The San Luis Fire Department (SLFD) began operating the ambulance service under its own Certificate of Necessity (CON) on July 6, 2016.  During the CON application process and upon review by the Arizona Department of Health Services, it was identified that there would be a shortfall of revenues and that the Ambulance Enterprise might need to receive funds from the General Fund, specifically the Fire Department.

As it turns out, the allocations of salaries, expenditures, and revenues resulted in a “profit” within the Ambulance Enterprise accounts.  Where we came up short is in the General Fund accounts of the Fire Department.

The impact upon the Fire Department accounts was for two reasons:

1. The first was the result of a delay in establishing a payroll code for ambulance personnel, which resulted in all personnel expenses being charged to the General Funds accounts.  Additionally, SLFD, the Finance Department, and Human Resources are working to modify Personnel Action Reports to correctly identify Firefighter status to allow work assignments within both the Fire Department (General Funds) and the Ambulance Service (Enterprise Fund).

2. The second impact on the Fire Department funds was the result of a Class Action suit brought against the State of Arizona by the Public Safety Personnel Retirement System (PSPRS) regarding retirement contributions.  In the judgment, the City of San Luis became responsible for returning $192,000.00 to PSPRS Firefighters.  The money paid by the City of San Luis will be credited to the City of San Luis against future PSPRS payments, but the impact of this refund was immediately applied as an unfunded mandate against our General Fund Budget.

SLFD and the Finance Department are also working to shift allocations of salaries formerly weighted in the Fire Department to the Ambulance Service.  This reallocation of funds will also shift ERE expenses from the General Fund to the Enterprise Fund.

SLFD and the San Luis Finance Department will continue to modify allocations to achieve balanced budgets within both funds.

SLFD is requesting authorization to transfer $440,200.00 from the Ambulance Service (Enterprise Fund) to the Fire Department (General Fund).  The transfer will be allocated as itemized in the Budget Transfer Form.