Thursday, August 20, 2015

Two-person fire stations still a dream for Kings County


County officials say funding isn’t there to meet grand jury’s recommendations


Want to end the problem of one-person county fire stations in Stratford, Hardwick, the Island District and Burris Park?
It’s not going to happen without more money, according to Deb West, Kings County deputy administrative officer.
“There simply isn’t enough revenue coming in to provide the level of staffing that all of us want to have,” West said.
The discussion, while already underway, was given new impetus by a Kings County Grand Jury report released in June that called for at least two firefighters to work each of the four rural stations mentioned above.
The grand jury concluded that “understaffed stations could result in time lost in fighting a fire which could lead to preventable injuries as well as loss of life and property.”
That concern was echoed by Kings County Fire Chief Bill Lynch in an official response to the report. Lynch said that one-person staffing limits the ability to respond to emergencies and also prevents the firefighter from performing routine maintenance that requires at least two people.
Lynch asked for six new firefighter positions in the 2015-16 county budget, which would have been roughly enough to staff Stratford and Hardwick with two people.
He said in an interview that 12-14 people would have to be hired to eliminate the one-person station problem permanently. The extra staff would be needed to cover absences created by vacation, sick time, medical leave or floating assignments to meet needs at other stations.
He’s getting three new positions in the 2015-16 budget. The cost? Approximately $300,000 a year, according to West.
She said the three will be floaters hired to put a dent in the fire department’s growing overtime costs. She said hiring the three won’t end the one-person station problem.
West said she’s concerned that even the three won’t be financially sustainable over time. That’s because the fire department is considered a special district with a separate fund that relies on property tax revenues.
Because of Proposition 13, property taxes can’t increase more than 2 percent a year. Fire department costs are going up faster than that.
West said the three new people will be funded with a leftover fire department balance. She said there was no new revenue available to pay their salaries.
According to her, there are basically two ways to get fire department staffing up to the level recommended by the grand jury: either dip into general fund money or put a countywide public safety sales tax increase before voters.
She said the general fund money is fully allocated for other needs, such as expanding the county jail and hiring more probation staff to deal with the state’s realignment policy that directs more offenders away from state prisons and into county custody.
“It’s a balloon,” she said. “You squeeze one side, and it pops out somewhere else. Everything is a prioritization.”
What about volunteer firefighters plugging the holes at the undermanned stations?
Lynch said that there aren’t enough qualified volunteers to do it. He said the requirements of a volunteer and a professional firefighter are virtually the same — a high-standard that makes it the equivalent of a full-time job.
So what about the option of a countywide sales tax increase for public safety to hire more professionals? Would Hanford and Lemoore residents pay a little more to subsidize fire services in poorer parts of the county like Stratford and Hardwick?
“My belief is that if it was a countywide public safety tax set aside just for public safety, I think a voter would support that,” Lynch said. “Public safety is at the heart of every community. It’s a vital function.”
West said that if county residents want a higher level of service across the board in all communities, they might need to consider raising additional revenue.
“If the fire fund isn’t able to afford increased levels of service, then that’s something the constituents need to discuss,” she said.
August 18, 2015
Hanford Sentinel
By Seth Nidever

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