Suitability of Fire Assessment Methodologies

Level of Service

Does the department provide Advanced Life Support (ALS)? Basic Life Support (BLS)? First Responder Service Levels?

If the department does not provide ALS or BLS and truly provides a first responder only level of service, using a historical demand methodology may impact properties such as nursing homes, churches and government parcels severely since all calls for service are included in the apportionment and these property types typically generate a high percentage of calls in a first responder only fire department. A first responder department may want to consider weighting incidents or using a methodology that has a “readiness-to-serve” component which would allocate costs more evenly based upon the benefit received from the fire departments providing the resources necessary to maintain a readiness-to-serve all properties within the City.

Is the department an integrated fire/rescue department?

Stand-alone fire departments that provide an ALS or BLS level of service, still have to remove costs associated with providing EMS services. However, there may be some “economies of scale” associated with an integrated department. We can use a fire assessment funding study to evaluate potential cost saving measures available to the City through an integrated program.

Is the fire department staffed by volunteers or by professional firefighters? Is there interest in migrating from a volunteer to a professional department?

If a city or county is facing this situation, any methodology being considered should be scalable and have the capacity to grow through the migration process. We will provide guidance in creating a methodology and provide pro-forma budget and rates that will provide funding through the entire transition process.

Is there a critical capital item or service level enhancement that is in need of funding? Has there been any recent annexation activity that has changed the service area? 

The implementation of a fire assessment program to fund a specific capital item or service enhancement/expansion is often a successful strategy. We have helped clients generate funding for a new station or fire apparatus that will result in improvements to the entire system. Often tying a new assessment program to a capital funding need helps in the public acceptance of the assessment program. 

If the city or county has recently experienced an annexation, or is considering and annexation, Burton & Associates can assist in reviewing or updating the current fire assessment program to ensure revenue and legal sufficiency of the methodology. Additionally, the development of a dedicated funding source that will ensure the expected level of service can be provided may warrant the consideration of a fire assessment program. Burton & Associates can help the city or county evaluate the merits of a fire assessment program on a case by case basis.

Is there a desire to explore consolidation or shared services with another department? 

Burton & Associates can help a city or county evaluate potential consolidation opportunities and/or shared service opportunities with neighboring departments. The existence of a dedicated, dependable funding source for any fire department provides an opportunity for consolidation. Burton & Associates can help departments evaluate potential merger possibilities and can provide critical information to the decision makers on the potential impacts of those opportunities as they relate to service level and funding alternatives.

Make-up of Parcels and the Availability of Property Data

How many improved parcels are in the city or county?

Burton & Associates will review the ad valorem tax roll data for a city or county and make a recommendation on methodology options. There is no “one-size-fits-all” methodology and although there are situations where it makes sense to implement a basic methodology there are also situations where an alternative methodology may better meet local objectives while still complying with all legal standards.

Is the community primarily residential? Commercial? Are there a significant number of vacant parcels?

In situations where a community is predominantly residential, a methodology option may have a minimum of categories, possibly just simply residential and non-residential. In situations where there are a significant number of non-residential properties, the City may want to consider using more non-residential categories such as commercial, industrial, warehouse, etc. In situations where there is a significant amount of undeveloped land, the City may want to include a category for vacant parcels. Note, all of these options are predicated upon meeting the legal requirements of fire assessment programs and the members of our team are experienced in developing assessment programs to meet all of these types of situations.

How complete is the real property roll?

Burton & Associates will review the ad valorem tax roll and provide feedback to the City on methodology options available based upon available data. An example of this would be the preclusion of using discreet property categories in a program where the property or call data does not provide enough detail to support this decision.

Are there a significant number of tax-exempt parcels? Government parcels?

In order to meet statutory requirements regarding fair and reasonable cost apportionment, both tax-exempt and government parcel information must be included in the data for rate calculation purposes. The City will not be able to enforce collection of assessment from government parcels, so that revenue will need to be funded through another available revenue source. The City can create an exemption for institutional tax-exempt uses on tax-exempt parcels; however, this exemption has to be broad and cannot be discriminatory. Burton & Associates will identify both government and tax-exempt parcels and provide the City with the total fiscal impact of both property types.

Completeness and Breakdown of the Incident Data

Is the incident data available and reliable?

In some departments, a formal process of recording and reporting incidents does not exist. The lack of reliable incident will force a city or county to re-create an incident history or develop a methodology that puts less emphasis on historical demand and focus on availability. Burton & Associates will review the incident data and make a recommendation to the City regarding methodology options available based on the quality of the incident data.

How does Burton & Associates address the differences in uses of the incident data?

The Florida Fire Incident Reporting System (FFIRS) is a means for fire departments to report and maintain computerized records of fires and other fire department incidents in a uniform manner. In certain situations, the category assigned in FFIRS reporting differs from the category used in an assessment program. For example, there could be an incident that is assigned as a “vacant parcel” in FFIRS. However, that incident was in the backyard of a residential parcel and would be coded as residential for assessment purposes. Burton & Associates will review incidents as necessary to ensure calls are appropriately assigned to categories for assessment program purposes.

Does the fire department have automatic aid agreements with surrounding departments or does the fire department provide service to a neighboring community on a contract basis?  

In order to meet the legal requirements of a fire assessment program, the methodology has to make sense in terms the cost of the service provided and there has to be a fairness in the way those costs are apportioned. When an automatic aid agreement* exists, there are often incidents included in the call database that should be excluded from the apportionment. Alternatively, calls for service within the municipal boundary may not be in the database and should be included. Utilizing a “watch-standing” only methodology should be considered as an option in this situation, especially if incident data is unavailable or incomplete.

*Automatic aid agreements differ from mutual aid agreements in service area responsibilities and dispatch sequencing. An automatic aid agreement assigns primary fire protection coverage responsibilities to the nearest station and would dispatch a first response from that station regardless of municipal boundaries. A mutual aid agreement outlines the responsibilities of each participating department in providing a secondary response to support the primary response units.

Political and Financial Realities

What funding level should the City use? 

When developing a fire assessment program, Burton & Associates will work towards identifying the maximum allowable funding level available to the City that is politically acceptable. Burton & Associates will also include some items that may have been eliminated from the fire department budget over the last couple of years due to declining ad valorem revenues. For example, we will include apparatus replacement costs, new station construction costs, indirect costs as well as the operating costs of the fire department. The inclusion of these items is beneficial to the City in identifying the true cost of providing fire protection. However, the resulting rates of fully funding fire protection may not be politically acceptable. We will work with the City to not only identify the full cost of providing fire protection, but also in developing and presenting alternative rate scenarios to the elected officials and the public.

What is the plan for public education?

First year programs that are successful have virtually all had extensive education components for elected officials and the public. We will meet with elected officials individually to fully explain the fire assessment program and to answer any questions they may have. We are also available to participate in public education seminars and workshops as necessary.

Is this additional revenue for the City?

The decision to implement the assessment program is independent of any other funding decisions. A fire assessment program is a dedicated funding source for fire protection. No funds generated from a fire assessment program can be used for other general government expenditures. The decision on whether the City wants implement a fire assessment program in conjunction with a roll back in ad valorem rates rests with the elected officials. Burton & Associates will assist the City with this decision process by providing rate scenarios, revenue estimates and impacts upon various property types.

What happens next year and in the future? 

Our approach is different from other practitioners in that we develop fire assessments in the context of a five year financial plan. Based upon projected growth, cost escalation factors and capital and equipment needs, we can develop an assessment program that will provide sufficient revenues to fund all projected costs over a defined period. For instance, the assessment can be sized to be sufficient for three to five years, with reserves created in the early years used to fund capital and equipment needs in subsequent years. Alternatively, the first year assessments can be sized so that application of an annual index to the assessments each year will provide the required revenue over the forecast period.