Should Atherton look at withdrawing from fire district?

This district board should be reconstituted with three mayors from the three member cities and two at large candidates. With more effective leadership, the board would never have allowed the Chief to use district resources to participate in PG&E's embarrassing PR campaign.

Atherton is betting a bad deal. The Menlo Park Fire District gets more money from the county that any other special district, $44.1 million last year.

"Special districts will split a $123.5 million pot of the 1 percent tax funds. That includes $44.1 million supporting the Menlo Park Fire Protection District, $13.5 million for the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, $11.5 million for the Sequoia Health Care District and $6.2 million for the San Mateo County Harbor District, according to the report." Web Link

State law prohibits a member of a city or town council from serving on the Fire Board or any other agency whose jurisdiction overlaps with the city or town.

No question, Atherton should withdraw from the fire district. We can then take the $7M we're overpaying to the fire department and use it to overpay our police department even more.

On a more serious note…since Atherton has such a poor track record of overpaying for its police department, why would anyone think taking fire services in house could result in a better cost/benefit tradeoff for the taxpayer?

Carpenter writes, "State law prohibits a member of a city or town council from serving on the Fire Board..."

Web Link

With a member of each cities’ council now sworn in on the fire board, it enables the department to proceed with the final paperwork required before the agency begins officially operating next year, said Fire Chief John Healy... The agreement weights the cities’ expenses and voting based on current service levels with San Mateo at 60 percent, and both Belmont and Foster City at 20 percent. The premise of the JPA is to maintain existing service levels and stabilize cost savings achieved when the three began sharing administration and training several years ago by codifying a formal department.

@reconstitute - Menlo Fire is a special district; the new San Mateo, Foster City and Belmont fire agency (San Mateo Consolidated Fire) is a joint powers authority much like Orange County Fire Authority. Menlo Fire would have to cease to exist in order to reconstitute as a fire authority, and that makes no sense.

Are there really that many citizens in Atherton who think they would be better off with a stand alone agency especially when the trend is to reduce redundancy?

Currently, there is one fire station in Atherton. If the town had its own department, which jurisdiction would be supplementing services into the town on a regular basis -- Menlo Fire more often than not. Atherton proper is covered by Stations 1 (engine and truck), 3, 4, 5, and 6 plus the battalion chief.

The recent study estimated the annual cost about $6.8 million. And how much to start up a new department -- buying property, building stations, hiring staff, buying vehicles, on-going training, etc. BTW a new fire engine costs about $650,000.

The only way to reduce the cost of fire services while actually increasing service levels is wide area consolidation - which your Fire Board is on record of supporting:

RESOLUTION OF THE MENLO PARK FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT BOARD
REQUESTING THAT THE SAN MATEO COUNTY LOCAL AGENCY FORMATION
COMMISSION (LAFCo) PERFORM A COUNTY-WIDE MUNICIPAL SERVICE
REVIEW OF FIRE AGENCIES WITHIN SAN MATEO COUNTY
WHEREAS, the District believes that consolidation of fire and emergency medical
services agencies allows for the greatest opportunity to provide efficient and quality life-saving
services; and
WHEREAS, any action resulting in fragmentation of fire and emergency medical
services agencies within the County of San Mateo would result in increased costs and a decrease
in the quality of services; and
WHEREAS, fire districts, including the Menlo Park Fire Protection District, provide a
myriad of services to the community in addition to basic fire and emergency services, including
but not limited to, disaster preparedness, public education, code promulgation, and inspections;
and
WHEREAS, the Menlo Park Fire Protection District has been a long time leader in the
consolidation of fire dispatch services and has successfully and significantly reduced response
times in recent years; and
WHEREAS , consolidation of services allows for economies of scale, permitting
exemplary levels of cost-efficient service; and
WHEREAS, any attempt to replicate this level of services in individual San Mateo
County municipalities would be imprudent and ineffective, as such effort could not facilitate
economies of scale, resulting and in higher costs and inefficiencies; and
WHEREAS, special districts, including the Menlo Park Fire Protection District, have
the unique distinction and capability of being well managed and economically healthy, primarily
due to not being subservient to municipal government.
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that Board of Directors of the Menlo Park
Fire Protection District hereby direct that correspondence be transmitted by the Fire Chief, on
behalf of the District, to the San Mateo LAFCo, requesting that the San Mateo LAFCo perform a
county-wide municipal service review to evaluate fire agencies within San Mateo County.


Here are two great examples of such wide area consolidations:

Orange County Fire

The Orange County Fire Authority is a regional fire service agency that serves 22 cities in Orange County and all unincorporated areas. The OCFA protects over 1,400,000 residents from its 61 fire stations located throughout Orange County. OCFA Reserve Firefighters work 10 stations throughout Orange County.

$263,952,650 (09/10)
$188 per capita


SacMetro
Serves nearly 640,000 citizens over a 417-square-mile area, serving Sacramento & Placer counties including the City of Citrus Heights and the City of Rancho Cordova.

Historically, Metro Fire represents 16 former fire agencies, some of which were founded more than six decades ago. Today, Metro Fire is the seventh-largest fire district in California with 42 strategically located fire stations.
$148,269,642 total expenses
= $231 per capita

"The only way to reduce the cost of fire services while actually increasing service levels is wide area consolidation"

While I'm not opposed to Fire service consolidation, I think the above post misses the larger issue. So I'll ask you this:

Does fire service consolidation result in a NET REDUCTION in property tax revenue for the fire agencies that are merged in the consolidation? In other words, is the property tax revenue of the consolidated fire agency less than the net property tax revenue of the currently-separate fire agencies?

If the answer is "the same property tax revenue amount", or "higher property tax revenue amount", then respectfully I think you miss the point on the debates regarding Fire service funding.

The issue is that the fire agency (and possibly other fire agencies) receives an outsized portion of property tax revenue in comparison to other government agencies in the area, the most notable (and vocal) examples being MPCSD and Atherton. If Fire service consolidation does not result in a smaller tax-dollar percentage and does not result in a fairer distribution of property tax dollars, then consolidation does not provide residents with the thing we need most: the most effective use of our tax dollars.

Atherton should most definitely explore other options; how about looking to join with Redwood City?

You cannot share savings unless you have savings - so create those savings by consolidation.

Fire consolidation both saves money and improves the quality of services.

In a wide area fire services consolidation there would be significant economies of scale and in forming a consolidated agency the tax base could easily be reallocated to also include other suitable public agencies.

In the highly unlikely event that the majority of the residents of Atherton did vote (and ONLY the residents can make that decision, not the Town Council) to “detach” from the Fire District (which is a very difficult process) such detachment would require the County to allocate to Atherton ONLY the amount currently being spent in Atherton by the Fire District. The Matrix study will be Exhibit 1 in that reallocation process. Hence under State law the portion of the former Fire District property tax revenues that the Town of Atherton would receive would be insufficient to provide the same high level of fire services that the residents currently receive. Instead most of the property taxes currently paid to the Fire District by Atherton residents would have to be reallocated to other NON-Atherton agencies. The property taxes of Atherton residents would not be decreased by a single penny. And the Town would probably need to seek a new and much higher parcel tax in order to be able to provide for or contract for its own fire services.

When the non-Atherton residents of the Fire District discover that this property tax reallocation process would also mean a reduction in their level of fire services without providing any real benefit to the Town of Atherton you can expect outrage.

There is no doubt that the residents of Atherton pay more in ALL kinds of taxes than we receive in services – to the school districts, to the Fire District, to the Harbor District, to the Open Space District, to the County, to the State and to the Federal government – that is an essential part of the social contract of being part of the larger community in which we live. We cannot expect to be in the top 1% of incomes and not have concomitant social responsibilities to those less fortunate.

Why did the Town did not permit the Fire District to review the Matrix report for accuracy before it was released?

Why did the Town did not ask for the Fire District’s comments on that report after it was released?

Why did the Town Council did not invite the Fire District to participate in the Council’s public meeting on the report scheduled for 21 Feb.?

"in forming a consolidated agency the tax base could easily be reallocated"

So, a Fire district consolidation would result in changes (as in lower) TRA percentages for the consolidated Fire district?

How would the tax base be reallocated to ensure a higher percentage of property taxes goes to towns/cities and school districts?

"So, a Fire district consolidation would result in changes (as in lower) TRA percentages for the consolidated Fire district?"

Yes

"How would the tax base be reallocated to ensure a higher percentage of property taxes goes to towns/cities and school districts?"

That would be a decision made by the County Board of Supervisors.

Consolidation makes sense. I believe that Woodside Fire would not want to join with Atherton, as an independent fire agency. That joint venue would be just like the current Menlo Fire District arrangement.

Contract Fire Services:
Private companies have contract fire services as NASA Ames. They cannot leave their facility area of responsibility to assist other fire agencies. Private is private.

Assets:
Atherton does not own any fire assets. That includes equipment, vehicles, property, and buildings. They do not own any real or personal property, related to the fire function. Station 3 belongs to the Menlo Park Fire District, as a whole agency.

Pension Obligations
Atherton as a member of the Fire District will share in the pension liability of the Menlo Fire District if they decide to withdraw from the fire district. That cost is about 40 million dollars. How will the Atherton Debt percent be calculated?

LAFco

A vote of LAFco is required of that governing board. Then if approved by the LAFco Board a vote of the citizens of Atherton will be required to obtain a majority. After their parcel tax renewal failure, the odds of passing are slim.

I'm sure the people of Atherton are not so fast in withdrawing from the fire district. Evidenced by the poor turnout at their February 21 meeting.

TO SAVE MONEY ATHERTON COUNCIL, TURN YOUR POLICE SERVICES TO THE COUNTY SHERIFF AND SAVE 75% OF YOUR BUDGET. I'm sure consolidation of police services are easier and will work.