The possible financial savings from a consolidation of fire and
emergency medical services into a single agency for South Santa
Clara County are tempting in these difficult fiscal times, and
that’s why the cities of Morgan Hill and Gilroy, as well as the
county continue to study the many different forms such a
regionalization of vital public services could take.
The possible financial savings from a consolidation of fire and emergency medical services into a single agency for South Santa Clara County are tempting in these difficult fiscal times, and that’s why the cities of Morgan Hill and Gilroy, as well as the county continue to study the many different forms such a regionalization of vital public services could take.
In fact, the reduction in cost under such a system would be “significant,” according to a recent report by the county’s Local Agency Formation Commission, though key unanswered questions include whether or not the current quality of service can be maintained or improved, and who would be in charge of such a consolidated fire department.
Officials from the different agencies, departments, districts and cities have mixed initial impressions on consolidation, though they are awaiting more details.
“Some sort of regional approach to be able to deploy anybody anywhere in South County – it seems, intuitively, that’s an approach that’s definitely worth pursuing,” said Morgan Hill Mayor Steve Tate, a member of the South County fire study committee formed last year just to study the idea. “To be able to justify it is not going to be easy.”
Providing a better analysis is the purpose of the steering committee, which includes representatives from all the entities that have a hand in the delivery of emergency services in South County.
The committee last met in November, and hopes to have its next meeting by March 2011. At that meeting, members will try to answer questions about why they would or would not pursue a regional consolidation, and how much they would be willing to pay to develop an in-depth plan to consider the options.
The current web of service areas, fire departments, contractors and jurisdictions that provide fire and EMS service to about 112,000 people in South County is “fragmented and complicated” as the LAFCO report published earlier this month noted.
The city of Morgan Hill, for example, does not have a fire department. Instead, it has a contract with the county’s Central Fire District, which is managed by the board of supervisors and also serves more populated areas to the north.
The city of Gilroy has its own fire department, which staffs 36 sworn firefighters and has a budget of about $6.8 million this year.
In the unincorporated areas of South County, the South County Fire District provides fire and EMS services. That district has its own board of directors, who answer to the supervisors. The South County district has a contract for personnel and equipment with Calfire, a state agency that also serves more remote areas near Morgan Hill and Gilroy.
Despite this seemingly tangled net of fire service – they don’t even share a 911 answering center – firefighters and battalion chiefs know where to go and how to get there in an emergency.
The LAFCO report – a countywide study of fire services conducted every five years – found that both districts and the Gilroy Fire Department consistently meet industry standards for response times. All fire districts and cities in Santa Clara County help each other regardless of boundaries when help is needed.
The panopticon of fire agencies in South County has saturated the region, and the LAFCO study predicts that under the current structure, the three agencies will be able to meet service demands as the population grows, at least until 2030.
Still, drastic times call for drastic measures. Gilroy Mayor Al Pinheiro, who also sits on the regionalization steering committee, said fire service regionalization has been periodically mentioned as a concept in South County since he served on the planning commission in the 1990s.
It only recently graduated to serious consideration due to the recent recession which dried up public revenues.
The LAFCO study echoed this observation, and added that all three agencies as well as the cities and geographic entities they serve are facing increasing costs, growing populations and climbing calls for service.
“Now we’re being cautious and optimistic about finding solutions,” Pinheiro said. “We’re going to evaluate what’s best for South County, but it’s too early to think about what the future is going to look like.”
A Morgan Hill staff report prepared earlier this month, as well as the LAFCO study list a number of options for partial or total consolidation – at least one that would require the elimination or rearrangement of boundaries to form a single fire district for South County, manned by a single department or contractor.
Such a district could be governed by a new joint powers authority, or another way that the two city councils and board of supervisors can agree on.
Or the three providers could share resources on a more micro level – through shared fire stations and equipment, combined training programs, consolidated dispatch centers, or increased use of shared command staff.
Exactly how much savings could be found in such consolidation or sharing is not found in the LAFCO report, and would likely be a subject for further research by the South County steering committee.
Some of the options for resource sharing have already been enacted through necessity.
In recent years, because of declining revenues and the need for budget cuts, the city of Gilroy, South County and Central Fire districts agreed to share a battalion chief who oversees crews that respond to calls from all three areas on some shifts.
The city of Gilroy, which has the largest population of the three South County service areas, has cut its fire department budget by 16 percent and eliminated 10 fire staff since 2007. Earlier this year, through negotiations with the fire department union, the city reduced the standard firefighters per engine from four to three.
One tantalizing choice for consolidation would have Morgan Hill, Gilroy and unincorporated South County each contracting with a single service provider. And if Calfire were chosen as that provider, Morgan Hill and Gilroy could save more than $2 million a year, according to the LAFCO report.
Furthermore, the consolidation of emergency communication systems into a single dispatch center run by the county is the “best opportunity” to efficiently share resources, the LAFCO report said.
Now, the county and city of Gilroy run independent dispatch centers, which do not include calls for police service and are staffed by members of different labor unions. A single organization could answer emergency calls at lower cost, according to LAFCO.
The LAFCO study acknowledges that the up-front costs to establish such a system would be significant.
South County Fire District board member Charles Jackson, who also sits on the regionalization steering committee, has suggested one way for Morgan Hill to save money and retain the same level of service is by contracting with his district because Calfire is “considerably cheaper” as a provider. He added that SCFD would likely be the financial loser in a consolidation deal, because the district would lose two stations that would have to be replaced. Plus, he said Morgan Hill officials have been resistant to the idea of contracting with SCFD, perhaps because they’re concerned about Calfire “grabbing Morgan Hill and expanding its empire.”
“I’m not interested in grabbing anything. If we can help them, that’s a thought, as long is it doesn’t deprive our (customers) of anything,” said Jackson. “I still believe Calfire has done a first-rate job for us.”
If the elected officials and board members agree to a major shake-up of fire services in South County, it won’t be implemented for several years. Morgan Hill’s current contract with Central Fire District won’t expire until 2014, and the city of Gilroy’s contract with the GFD’s bargaining unit expires in 2013. Plus, the steering committee hasn’t even yet skimmed the details of potential scenarios.
Supervisor Mike Wasserman, the newest member of the steering committee, said everyone involved in the discussion, outside of Gilroy, seems to agree that regional consolidation is the “logical direction” in which to proceed.
“We’re all looking to provide services and keep costs down, but the devil is in the details,” Wasserman said. “Everyone has the best interests of South County in mind. They want the best response times at costs they can afford. It comes down to, ‘How do you do that?'”
