What Happened?
The Aptos-LA Selva fire department is considering increasing its collaboration with Central Fire to operate more efficiently. The two departments are currently testing a shared services strategy, with potential to increase consolidation in the future.
Goal
Because Santa Cruz County has 12 different fire agencies; the Aptos-La Selva Fire Chief is interested in extending the department’s shared services with other cities to drive down costs without sacrificing quality of service to residents. The Aptos-La Selva fire department and Central Fire are currently sharing a fire marshal, fleet services and fire inspectors on a trial basis. Board members from each department have created an ad hoc committee to review these shared services and explore the possibility of more collaboration opportunities in the future, Santa Cruz Sentinel reported.
Aptos La-Selva Fire has 38 employees operating on an $11 million annual budget. The firefighters cover 27 square miles in Santa Cruz County with service from three fire stations. Central Fire has a $13 million annual budget and services 28 miles of the county. It operates four fire stations and a fleet maintenance facility. Increasing shared services between the two departments would reduce fleet and staff costs, but neither chief wants to rush into any major decision without adequate research, Santa Cruz Sentinel reported.
Fire District Perks
Similarly, six Lake Minnetonka area fire chiefs in Minnesota are considering forming a fire district to share services and better service residents. The fire departments may team up to share services and resources by creating a West Lake Fire District. The partnership could range from share equipment to prevent duplicate purchases of expensive pieces, to creating formalized agreements on consolidated departments and services, Mille Lac County Times reported.
The shared services proposals may play an important role in the Lake Minnetonka area where career firefighters are in small quantity and most communities rely heavily on volunteers. In Minnesota, just 2,000 of the 20,000 firefighters in the state are career firefighters. If the fire departments are able to consolidate resources and services, the money saved could be used to hire more paid firefighters that would be supported by volunteer manpower. This would ensure full-time firefighters will always be at the stations, ready to answer calls from the public, the Mille Lac County Times reported.
In Wilmington and New Hanover, North Carolina, a consultant’s study recommends the two fire services merge to make better use of funding and resources. The Emergency Services Consulting International argued the two departments would work more efficiently as a consolidated unit than as two separate entities. The combined budget of the two departments would exceed $27 million, breaking down to a $136.84 per capita cost. North Carolina’s average per capita cost is $90.98 and the national average is $135.60. Department consolidation could:
- Save money
- Improve services
- Boost efficiency
- Increase staffing to unincorporated areas
- Expand shared services with beach towns nearby
To determine if shared services is a good plan for the community, the report recommends creating committees to break down the costs and benefits, as well as collect public input before making a decision.
Sharing is Caring
Gov1 has followed the latest research and trends on shared services in fire departments and other public agencies seeking to cut costs without sacrificing quality of service.