Council approved a revised contract with our partners, the Littleton Fire Protection District ("District") and the Highlands Ranch Metropolitan District ("Ranch") on 3 January 2012. As liaison to the Fire Protection District, it was my privilege to serve at the direction of Council on the negotiating team with Chief John Mullin, Acting City Attorney Kirsten Crawford and City Manager Michael Penny at the conclusion of negotiations which spanned the better part of 12 months.
The City's original agreement with the District dates to 1962 and the Ranch was added in 1988. Of course, the ultimate intent of the agreement is to provide high quality fire and emergency response services to citizens at a fair price. In the fire business, economies of scale achieved by spreading large fixed costs (e.g., fire stations, fire trucks, emergency medical vehicles and other equipment) over a large population base makes the service more affordable to everyone. The trick is to have the right numbers of equipment and staff in the right locations to minimize call out response times without overbuilding the system thus making it cost prohibitive. I think it's fair to say that the District and the Ranch will acknowledge that they have received good value over an extended term from both the exemplary dedication and skill of the men and women of Littleton Fire Rescue ("LFR") at the cost of the services supplied by the City.
As well managed organizations should, the District and Ranch commissioned a study of fire and emergency service contracting options in 2010 as part of their fiduciary responsibility to their constituents. Ultimately some of the elements of that study were seen as negotiating points by them, yet it was also apparent that both the District and Ranch viewed LFR as their preferred partner. You can read the entire contract attached below.
Here's a quick synopsis of the principal changes to the agreement:
The City's original agreement with the District dates to 1962 and the Ranch was added in 1988. Of course, the ultimate intent of the agreement is to provide high quality fire and emergency response services to citizens at a fair price. In the fire business, economies of scale achieved by spreading large fixed costs (e.g., fire stations, fire trucks, emergency medical vehicles and other equipment) over a large population base makes the service more affordable to everyone. The trick is to have the right numbers of equipment and staff in the right locations to minimize call out response times without overbuilding the system thus making it cost prohibitive. I think it's fair to say that the District and the Ranch will acknowledge that they have received good value over an extended term from both the exemplary dedication and skill of the men and women of Littleton Fire Rescue ("LFR") at the cost of the services supplied by the City.
As well managed organizations should, the District and Ranch commissioned a study of fire and emergency service contracting options in 2010 as part of their fiduciary responsibility to their constituents. Ultimately some of the elements of that study were seen as negotiating points by them, yet it was also apparent that both the District and Ranch viewed LFR as their preferred partner. You can read the entire contract attached below.
Here's a quick synopsis of the principal changes to the agreement:
- Should the City fail to deliver the agreed upon services including response times and unit equipment and staffing levels for each of five out of six months, the parties agree to fund a standards of coverage study to determine changes necessary to meet the service levels.
- The City is committed to provide emergency medical services to the Advanced Life Support level from all front line emergency response units 95% of the time. Previously this standard had been 90% of the time.
- The formula for determining the expense distribution percentage for allocation of costs related to the operating budget is stipulated as being subject to each party's existing boundary limits.
- The Agreement designates 2012 as a test year to determine what should be included in the administrative fee paid by the District and Ranch to the City. During 2012, the fee will be set at 6.0% of the operating budget but the parties will determine and track which actual costs are to be reimbursed going forward. Once there is mutual agreement in principal, any variances with the 2012 amount are to be trued up.
- Any contract impasses will be resolved by providing a position statement to the elected body of the minority party for consideration. The results of the consideration will be communicated back to the majority parties within 30 days.
- In the event of a material dispute, the parties will submit the issue to non-binding arbitration.
- There had been some concern over TABOR language and the intent and longevity of the contract. The City cannot enter into multi-year fiscal obligations so the final TABOR language clarifies this point.
- It was agreed to ratchet down the Fire Service Expense Distribution Percentage ("FSEDP") to 8.0% over four years from the current 8.25%. The FSEDP for any given party will be 8.25% in 2012 - 2013, 8.125% in 2014 - 2015 and then 8.0% thereafter.
| 12_fire_contract_agreement_approval_1.0_01.03.pdf |
RSS Feed