Supervisors send funded fire agency reorganization plan to LAFCO

Although the first portion of the fire department reorganization plan in unincorporated San Diego County must be approved by San Diego County’s Local Agency Formation Commission, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors sent a hybrid plan proposal with funding to LAFCO for approval.

The proposal, which includes stipends and county-funded worker’s compensation premium payments for volunteer firefighters, was approved by the supervisors June 25 on a 5-0 vote.

The hybrid plan divides LAFCO’s first phase into three subphases. The first subphase brings territory not within the boundaries of a public agency but served by a volunteer fire department into the San Diego County Regional Fire Authority.

“It’s a first step, but this is a very big step,” said Supervisor Ron Roberts. “We’re going to have a better and safer San Diego County.”

The LAFCO legal process for the reorganization began in February 2005 with approval from the Board of Supervisors to initiate a change.

The original proposal was to consolidate all 28 fire protection agencies in the county’s unincorporated area along with the unserved areas, but the LAFCO reorganization process also includes a period to submit a substantially similar proposal which may be approved by the LAFCO board.

The San Diego County Fire Chiefs Association and the San Diego County Fire Districts Association submitted such a proposal to divide the reorganization into two phases, incorporating 17 of the agencies and the unserved territory in Phase I to provide service to the unserved and most underserved areas while evaluating the remaining agencies in Phase II to determine whether or not consolidation is the most beneficial option.

In August 2005 the LAFCO board approved the substantially similar proposal.

At LAFCO’s December 2005 meeting the board received a macro report which presented a range of options for providing structural fire protection and emergency medical service in the unincorporated areas.

Seven options were presented and the LAFCO board selected a two-phased approach with preference toward the three options providing paid personnel at every station.

In February 2006 LAFCO approved the scope of work for a Phase I micro report which covered governance, transition and implementation strategy, operations, fiscal management, capital assets and miscellaneous issues.

The studies were not affected by the Board of Supervisors’ decisions in September 2005 and June 2006 to provide $8.5 million for contracts with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to augment service in areas not adequately protected.

The county supervisors have also committed $200,000 in Community Development Block Grants each year for needs of the fire service and an additional $200,000, derived from the savings of refinancing the county’s Otay prison, into a trust fund for fire agencies.

Although Community Development Block Grant funds are restricted to eligible neighborhoods, the trust fund awards have no such restriction.

The initial Phase I agencies included four municipal water districts which also provide fire protection and emergency medical services; the reorganization would have retained water and sanitation functions but not emergency service functions for the Ramona, Mootamai, Pauma and Yuima districts.

The study determined, however, that under state law the removal of individual powers from multipurpose special districts is not authorized.

If a municipal water district voluntarily relinquishes a latent power, the reorganization could include that territory, although none of the districts chose to submit resolutions requesting inclusion by the July 2007 deadline.

Seven additional agencies sought to be excluded from reorganization or deferred to Phase II. All seven have voter-approved assessments and meet the substantially similar proposal’s service levels.

Exclusion of those agencies from Phase I also reduces the risk of a successful protest petition.

The dissolution of an agency includes a protest petition provision which for a LAFCO-initiated proposal would trigger an election if 10 percent of the number of registered voters or landowners in any district signed the petition. (For districts of fewer than 300 registered voters, the signature requirement is 25 percent.)

A protest election would then take place for the entire proposed consolidated area.

In May 2007 LAFCO voted 6-1 to approve consolidating six fire agencies and the unserved area for Phase I and to authorize latent powers for fire protection and emergency medical services within a zone of the county’s special district covering regional communications.

That action also allowed agencies which had requested exclusion to reconsider participation, as was the case with County Service Area No. 113, which covers San Pasqual.

In addition to CSA No. 113, the six agencies which were to be consolidated in Phase I were the East County, Pine Valley and San Diego Rural fire protection districts and the County Service Areas serving Boulevard, Campo and Mount Laguna.

The East County Fire Protection District has since merged with the San Miguel Consolidated Fire Protection District, which will be considered for inclusion in the county agency in Phase II, so the ECFPD land was removed from Phase I following LAFCO approval of the consolidation June 2.

The May 2007 LAFCO approval also called for the inclusion of 943,876 acres of unserved territory into the new agency, although volunteer fire departments would retain their autonomy and are expected to work together with the paid firefighters covering those areas.

The total area in the Phase I plan exceeds 1,400,000 square miles, or approximately two-thirds of the county’s unincorporated area.

The consolidation, however, was conditioned upon a secure funding source.

The most recent cost estimates determined a total annual cost of $25,692,140 at the Basic Life Support level and $26,499,116 for Advanced Life Support service.

Even with the $8.5 million the Board of Supervisors currently spends on an enhancement program, the shortfall would total $12,971,871 for BLS and $13,724,847 for ALS.

The figures do not include approximately $37 million in capital costs, mostly for station upgrades.

Last December the LAFCO board directed its executive officer to transmit the terms and conditions of the proposed Phase I fire department reorganization to the San Diego County Board of Supervisors.

LAFCO’s 7-1 vote in December, with County Supervisor Bill Horn in opposition, accepted the draft terms and conditions of reorganization recommended by a subcommittee appointed in May 2007 to address various issues such as property tax, contract and labor transfer.

The reorganization was to return to LAFCO for ratification when all Phase I reorganization conditions, including identifying a source of stable funding, were completed.

The LAFCO input in December included a proposal by the Zone 8 fire chiefs which would involve a stipend for reserves.

Although LAFCO’s purview does not include operational plans for reorganized agencies, the proposal was acknowledged to provide a cost savings.

On January 29, the supervisors voted 5-0 to receive the proposal along with other information from the LAFCO meeting and to direct the county’s Chief Administrative Officer to evaluate the reorganization plan and input and report back to the board within 120 days with recommendations.

Horn supported the January vote to have the Chief Administrative Officer investigate options but didn’t guarantee his support when the recommendations were returned to the supervisors, explaining that without realistic revenue he would not spend money for a new agency which didn’t truly provide an improvement in service.

Horn called this May’s proposal acceptable. “This hybrid proposal’s going to be a lot better,” he said. “I’m happy with what we got resolved here.”

In March Horn had brought a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors as the result of a meeting he had with North County’s fire chiefs.

Horn’s recommendation directed the county’s Chief Administrative Officer to pinpoint the costs and provide recommendations to implement four measures: working with the San Diego Forest Area Safety Task Force to create a risk assessment of vegetative fuels, exploring ways to bring insurance and worker’s compensation costs and policies for volunteer firefighting agencies under one “umbrella,” supporting grant writing efforts on behalf of volunteer agencies and exploring the creation of a County Fire Warden position to serve as a liaison between local fire marshals and land use officials.

The Chief Administrative Officer was directed to return to the supervisors within 90 days.

Under the hybrid plan the territory served by volunteer fire agencies would be incorporated into the fire authority as soon as possible after July 1.

Although LAFCO approval would be necessary for the area to be finalized, contracts for fire service can be issued as of July 1.

The errata sheet approved by the supervisors on June 25 guarantees that the existing volunteer fire departments will be recognized.

The reorganization would place six fire stations in the regional authority, each of which would be staffed by two reserve firefighters and one volunteer or reserve firefighter. The volunteer territory would have individual improvement subzones for financial purposes.

The four County Service Areas would be merged with the fire authority in Step Two, which would likely be implemented in 2010 or 2011. Each of the four stations would be staffed by two reserve firefighters and one volunteer or reserve firefighter.

The two fire protection districts would be reorganized in Step III, likely by 2011 or 2012. Each of the four stations would be staffed by two career firefighters and one volunteer or reserve firefighter.

An additional 18 Cal Fire stations would consist of three career firefighters.

The $6.02 million in the county’s 2008-09 budget for the reorganization would cover stipends of $70 to $95 per day for volunteer firefighters as well as worker’s compensation costs, insurance and vehicle maintenance.

The county would also create three positions: a grant writer, a volunteer coordinator and a contract manager.

The Fire Warden position would be one of the roles of the Deputy Chief Administrative Officer.

A decision has not yet been made whether the regional fire authority would be placed under the Department of Planning and Land Use, which is in the Land Use and Environment Group, or under the Office of Emergency Services, which is part of the Public Safety Group.

The risk assessment of vegetative fuels was created by county staff in conjunction with the San Diego Forest Safety Task Force.

The top 10 projects to be considered, in order of priority, are Palomar Mountain, the Laguna East I-8 Corridor, Highway 94 Corridor East, Greater Julian, Tecate Divide North, San Luis Rey West, Santa Margarita, Northeast County Warners, Cuyamaca-Laguna and Rancho (Penasquitos/Bernardo/Santa Fe).

“We will continue to seek avenues for additional improvement,” said Supervisor Pam Slater-Price.

Slater-Price was pleased with the hybrid reorganization. “This will give us another option to allow us to stop fires quickly,” she said. “These options are exactly what we need.”

While some fire chiefs expressed concerns about specific portions of the program, they supported the program itself.

“I think everyone is committed to what should be our ultimate goal,” said county Chief Administrative Officer Walt Ekard.

“This is a promising next step,” said Cary Coleman, the fire chief of the Intermountain Fire Department. “It allows me as the fire chief to maintain or improve the level of service to my community. It also allows for a means to increase resources during critical times.”

Coleman noted that the program would need additional work. “This proposal is by no means a perfect solution,” he said. “Refinements and adjustments will be necessary.”

The supervisors echoed the need for additional work.

“It is not the end of our journey,” said Supervisor Dianne Jacob. “In fact, it is only the beginning of a very important journey.”

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