San Bernardino City looks to contract out Fire & Police

[LAflyer]

With the vote this week by the City Council to authorize bankruptcy filing by the city, the mayor is quoted in media reports that the city would seek to contract out its fire department, and possibly do the same with its police.

With a 2012/2013 projected $46mil deficit, the city of over 200,000 residents aims to cut its public safety cost which represent almost 70% of city general fund expenses by opting for regional approach.
Mayor on TV was quoted they would seek bids from both the State of California and San Bernardino County for public safety services.


Amazing that its takes such dire budget times for cities to be more open to regionalized approach to public safety delivery.

 

[zz0468]

Amazing that its takes such dire budget times for cities to be more open to regionalized approach to public safety delivery.

Not really. Cities are incorporated in the first place to give their citizens more local control over government services and policies. Once they have that, it's not an easy choice to give it up.

What's distressing in this particular case is an alleged 16 years of cooking the books. What took so long for it to come crumbling down?

 

[tsalmrsystemtech]

With the vote this week by the City Council to authorize bankruptcy filing by the city, the mayor is quoted in media reports that the city would seek to contract out its fire department, and possibly do the same with its police.

With a 2012/2013 projected $46mil deficit, the city of over 200,000 residents aims to cut its public safety cost which represent almost 70% of city general fund expenses by opting for regional approach.
Mayor on TV was quoted they would seek bids from both the State of California and San Bernardino County for public safety services.


Amazing that its takes such dire budget times for cities to be more open to regionalized approach to public safety delivery.

It looks like San Bernardino City Fire will probably get absorbed into the County Fire System for sure. Just like when Santa Ana Fire got absorbed into ORCO FIRE. Probably within the next 10 years all of the small fire departments will be gone. They will all get absorbed into County Fire Departments. Small cities just can't afford to have their own fire departments anymore. Sign of the times.

 

[Code20Photog]

It looks like San Bernardino City Fire will probably get absorbed into the County Fire System for sure. Just like when Santa Ana Fire got absorbed into ORCO FIRE. Probably within the next 10 years all of the small fire departments will be gone. They will all get absorbed into County Fire Departments. Small cities just can't afford to have their own fire departments anymore. Sign of the times.

There are actually a few examples to the contrary. The City of Thousand Oaks for *YEARS* has complained that they pay more into the County Fire Department than they get back in services. They've hinted numerous times that they are interested in breaking away from the County and starting their own fire department. I've read they've had a few studies, but each time it's things like the regional haz-mat system and the lack of wildland firefighting resources that has always been the sticking point.

 

[jlanfn]

Small cities just can't afford to have their own fire departments anymore.

As the 11th and 17th largest cities by population in California (Wikipedia), I wouldn't call Santa Ana or San Bernardino "small cities."

A huge problem for San Bernardino has been its dramatically dwindling tax base with high unemployment and an influx of low-income households since the 1980s. Of course, that's not the only problem:
San Bernardino struggled for decades before bankruptcy decision - San Bernardino County Sun

 

[LAflyer]

I wonder what type of financial model Ventura has that makes Thousand Oaks feel that its over paying.

In LA County, there are two models which cities can choose. One is where a city is annexed as a member into the consolidated fire district and whereby the district off the top gets a portion of property taxes and can do things like asses special developer or water fees to fund operations. Each cities cost in the district is prorated, with the idea everyone in the district pulls their own weight.
The other is simply a contract for service, where the city decides what coverage it desires, and the county staff's the stations accordingly and sends the city a bill for payment.


Ultimately the goal with regionalization is generate a reciprocal win-win benefit by economically sharing resources and having the whole be stronger than the individual parts.

I can understand the concept of local control or desire feeling of a "home town" approach, but when it comes to things like providing very expensive specialized services like fire and paramedic protection, I strongly believe the concept of shared regional approach is the way to go these days.

 

[PaulNDaOC]

It sounds like Thousand Oaks' beef with Ventura County is the they are part of a fire district and pay the same tax rate that is assessed to property owners in less afluent areas.

With service partialled out based on need not on monies paid, they probably feel that they are subsidizing service like Piru and Fillmore.

The same situation exists withing L.A. 's Consolidated Fire Dist. Every pays the same rate and the result is taxes collected in places like Malibu, Calabasas, Rancho P.V.,La Mirada and Cerritos are paying far more than received back as subsidizing places like Bell, Huntington Park, South Gate, etc...

 

[f40ph]

It sounds like Thousand Oaks' beef with Ventura County is the they are part of a fire district and pay the same tax rate that is assessed to property owners in less afluent areas.

With service partialled out based on need not on monies paid, they probably feel that they are subsidizing service like Piru and Fillmore.

The same situation exists withing L.A. 's Consolidated Fire Dist. Every pays the same rate and the result is taxes collected in places like Malibu, Calabasas, Rancho P.V.,La Mirada and Cerritos are paying far more than received back as subsidizing places like Bell, Huntington Park, South Gate, etc...

It's relative...there's no money for fire / EMS out in the San Bernardino County desert, however, when those folks from Thousand Oaks, Malibu, Calabassas crash on the I-15 on the way to Vegas, their home fire districts don't come to cut them out of their cars. They sure want the same service, though. People need to realize that a regionalized approach is good in that it helps cover them when they are out travelling. Granted that we will never see LA County spreading the wealth to San Bern or Riverside Counties, it's a nice thought anyway.

 

[jrholm]

I'd say Malibu uses up more than it's fair share of fire resources every couple of years.

 

[scottyhetzel]

I'd say Malibu uses up more than it's fair share of fire resources every couple of years.

Lol !

 

[Eng74]

It's relative...there's no money for fire / EMS out in the San Bernardino County desert, however, when those folks from Thousand Oaks, Malibu, Calabassas crash on the I-15 on the way to Vegas, their home fire districts don't come to cut them out of their cars. They sure want the same service, though. People need to realize that a regionalized approach is good in that it helps cover them when they are out travelling. Granted that we will never see LA County spreading the wealth to San Bern or Riverside Counties, it's a nice thought anyway.

L.A. County makes up for it by not having any Type 3's so they pay for the Strike Teams from everywhere that go when L.A. County needs them. The Type 3's will pay for themself in a few good fire seasons.

 

[SCPD]

L.A. County makes up for it by not having any Type 3's so they pay for the Strike Teams from everywhere that go when L.A. County needs them. The Type 3's will pay for themself in a few good fire seasons.

LAC has added some Type III's to their fleet recently.

 

[Eng74]

LAC has added some Type III's to their fleet recently.

They got 5 from OES, They only one that is theirs is Engine 55 on Catalina.

 

[Kingscup]

L.A. County makes up for it by not having any Type 3's so they pay for the Strike Teams from everywhere that go when L.A. County needs them. The Type 3's will pay for themself in a few good fire seasons.

Since most vegetation fires are in SRA or FRA, the state or the feds pay for the all the type 3's that respond into the county. Plus, since LA County is a contract county for CAL FIRE, they are also paid nicely for their wildland program.

 

[SCPD]

Since most vegetation fires are in SRA or FRA, the state or the feds pay for the all the type 3's that respond into the county. Plus, since LA County is a contract county for CAL FIRE, they are also paid nicely for their wildland program.

As far as I know, both the state and feds get reimbursed for responding to local responsibility areas. There can be recipical agreements that, under certain circumstances, make this a wash, but for larger fires I think the agency with jurisdiction where the incident occurs has to pay up. This is the way I remember it during my career. There are a number of mutual aid agreements available on the web and I believe they will validate my memory.

EDIT: the cost of fires on the SRA gets picked up by the state whether the fire in a contract county or not. I think there are thresholds in the contracts that determine whether the state will be billed in addition to what the state already pays in contract costs.

Second EDIT: federal and state disaster declarations probably change some of these requirements for local jurisdictions to repay, but, of course, those declarations are at the discretion of the governor and president.