Review of October 17th C.H.E.C.K. Presentation

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Review of October 17th C.H.E.C.K. Presentation

• December 19, 2007

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Seven (7) Primary Topics

• This presentation will review
• Overview of Fire District
• Personnel Costs
• Use of Overtime
• 24 hour shifts
• Paid On Call / Limited Term Fire Fighters (LTFF)
• Incidents and Responses
• Impacts of Alternative Service Models
• (Call Triage and Prioritization discussed on
  12-5-07)

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Overview of Fire District

• Foothill Fire Protection District formed in 1975
  became subsidiary district of the City in 1989
• City has evolved from rural, to suburban, to
  urban and the District has evolved as also to
  meet increased service needs in the community
• Paramedic service (Advanced Life Support) added
  in 1996
• Paramedic services standard throughout County
• Cross trained firefighters as paramedics and
  EMT-Is
• Marginal cost increase compared to stand-alone
  services
• Ensures greater reliability and more EMS
  resources for multi-casualty incidents
  disasters
• Present day Fire District is an all-risk
  emergency services department, providing a
  single-point rapid response to in-progress
  emergencies including fires, medical emergencies,
  traffic collisions, physical rescues (entrapment)
  and hazardous materials. The Fire District also
  provides fire investigation, fire prevention and
  inspection services and public education. All
  services are provided to a 50 square mile area
  that is larger than the City boundaries.
• 3 person engine companies 2 person paramedic
  squads

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C.H.E.C.K. has raised a variety of
issues related to the Rancho
Cucamonga Fire District
including personnel costs, use
of overtime, 24-hour shifts, call
triage and prioritization, call responses
and the use of Paid-On-Call /
Limited Term Fire Fighters.
These issues will be addressed
in the following slides. Call Triage and
Prioritization discussed on 12-5-07 CHECK
Compensation Analysis and Conclusion based on
hypothetical assumptions that do not reflect
Districts actual experience
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Personnel Costs

• 106 hours per work period is Federal Fair Labor
  Standards Act (FLSA) regulation. The Fair Labor
  Standards Act has, since 1974, established
  minimum wage, overtime pay and recordkeeping
  standards that affect full and part-time workers
  in the public sector.
• Work period is 14 days (2 work periods per 28 day
  cycle) to maintain FLSA compliance
• Average Fire Fighter works eight to nine regular
  24-hr shifts
• Fire Fighter overtime can entail additional
  shifts per month depending on multiple factors
  (i.e. vacancies, vacations, mutual aid and
  illnesses and injuries (discussed in more detail
  later))

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Personnel Costs

• Authorized Salary Range for a Firefighter is
  between 55,469.52 and 68,006.88 per year
• base salary without stipends for paramedic,
  hazardous materials or canine
• Salaried employees are individuals paid a fixed
  compensation on a regular basis for services
  rendered they may or may not be eligible for
  overtime
• Under FLSA, salaried employees are not
  necessarily exempt from overtime unless they fall
  under certain executive, administrative or
  professional categories, in which case they are
  considered exempt employees (not paid
  overtime). The public sector has adopted this
  nomenclature
• base salary is used for comparison purposes to
  ensure comparability because stipends and
  overtime are not guaranteed or fixed items and
  often do not count towards retirement
• many City positions include similar additional
  compensation for holiday work, premium holiday
  work, standby pay, bilingual pay and overtime

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Personnel Costs(Using CHECK Compensation
Analysis Scenario)

• - salary and overtime numbers 5-10 overstated as
  compared to 2006 actual
• Stipends understated EPMC overstated
• Theoretical average retirement not capped at 90
  no gain at retirement

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Personnel Costs

• Total Personnel Cost not just salary of one (1)
  Firefighter is 124,245 which is
  slightly less than the Total Personnel
  Cost of one (1) Deputy Sheriff
• Includes salary, PERS, medical benefits and
  stipends such as paramedic,
  hazardous materials, etcbut not overtime
• Overall, the personnel costs are 86 of the
  total Fire budget which is approximately equal
  to the total personnel costs in the Police budget
• Rancho Cucamonga Fire District actual average
  retirement age is 52 yrs, 7 months
• At the time of retirement, the average Rancho
  Cucamonga Fire Fighter has 22.96 years of service
  with the District

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Use of Overtime

• Six (6) hours of FLSA required overtime per work
  period
• MOU terms designed to comply with FLSA
  requirements
• Purpose is to provide 24/7 shift coverage with
  existing of personnel and ensure public safety
  through constant staffing. Most neighboring
  agencies have 4 person companies RCFD has 3
  person engine companies and 2 person paramedic
  squads
• Actual overtime varies, and occurs as a result of
  vacancies, vacations, sick leave, injuries or
  mutual aid responses assisting other
  jurisdictions with major emergencies (similar to
  2003 Grand Prix fire) such responses are usually
  reimbursed by the State or Federal governments
• In order to reach the 2006 actual average
  overtime levels noted previously, individuals
  worked an additional 24 to 72 hours per 28 day
  work cycle. The overtime hours were not
  automatically guaranteed and represent
  compensation paid for actual hours worked.

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Use of Overtime

• State law governs workers compensation formulas
  and standards including Fire Fighter
  presumptions, which are a significant factor in
  the disability rate
• No empirical data to support that in the Rancho
  Cucamonga Fire District overtime is a significant
  factor in the disability retirement rate
• District has aggressive workers compensation
  program to minimize injuries and costs as much as
  possible
• Mandatory fitness program
• Pre Employment Work Comp Medical Programs
• Careful and thorough review of claims using
  national standards

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24 hour Shifts

• There are different shift schedules for Public
  Safety agencies (police fire) throughout the
  nation depending on the needs of the community
• In Rancho Cucamonga, as in most all other urban
  public agencies in California, the 24 hour shift
  has evolved as the most efficient way to provide
  minimum
  public safety response to all
  emergencies, whenever they may occur,
  with minimum cross-trained
  personnel
• Recognized in Federal law (FLSA)
  with specific exemptions and requirements
  for public safety personnel

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24 hour Shifts

• 8 hour shifts will increase costs potentially by
  several million dollars over 24 hour shifts if
  Full Time employees used
• Fire District must provide 24/7 coverage 168
  hours per week
• Comparison 56 hour schedule (24 hour shift) v.
  40 hour schedule (8 hour shift)
• 168/56 3.0 employees per position
• 168/40 4.2 employees per position
• plus vacancy coverage
• Even if Paid On Call / Limited Term Fire Fighters
  (POC/LTFF) are hired to cover the extra
  positions, costs will increase due to extra
  personnel required (approximately 33 positions)
• Only work POC/LTFF less than 1000 hours per year
  or they become full time equivalent employees per
  PERS regulations
• Recent case law (Cargill decision) makes it more
  difficult for public agencies to employ contract
  personnel in lieu of full time employees

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24 hour Shifts

• (8 hour shift discussion continued)
• Must over-hire POC/LTFF by at least 20 to ensure
  availability of back-ups during
  sick/vacation/unavailable times if covering
  mandatory shift
• If POC/LTFF will cover sick, vacation or mutual
  aid for full time employees, then additional
  personnel are required as well
• Total POC/LTFF needed is between 78 and 168
  depending on staffing decisions noted previously,
  not including additional support staffing to
  manage training and scheduling demands
• All POC/LTFF must meet the same minimum training
  requirements, equipment needs and Medicare and
  Workers Compensation costs as full time
  employees. Also regulated by other state laws
  governing fire fighters.
• POC/LTFF only required to meet minimum standards
• Actual on-the-job experience may not meet same
  level of consistency and quality of service as
  full time employees
• May affect Citys participation in automatic aid
  which depends on participating agencies providing
  equivalent levels of care/service

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24 hour Shifts
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Paid On Call / Limited Term Fire Fighters

• Definitions
• P.O.C. paid on-call fire fighter compensation
  based on calls responded to works less than the
  1000 hour per year PERS limit in order to
  maintain part-time status.
• L.T.F.F. limited term fire fighter part-time
  employee, works less than the 1000 hour per year
  PERS limit in order to maintain
  part-time/non-permanent status.
• Operational Issues
• POC/LTFF must meet all minimum training and
  continuing education requirements that full-time
  firefighters meet requires same equipment and
  regulated by same state laws governing full time
  firefighters
• - Actual on-the-job experience may not meet same
  level of consistency and quality of service as
  full time employees
• - May affect Citys participation in automatic
  aid which depends on participating agencies
  providing equivalent levels of care/service

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Paid On Call / Limited Term Fire Fighters

• Most agencies with POC/LTFF non-reserve
  programs are rural in nature, or utilize the
  POC/LTFF personnel to provide services in rural
  county fire departments to primarily rural areas,
  or small cities.

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Paid On Call / Limited Term Fire Fighters

• Some agencies may have a POC/LTFF program but do
  not use POC/LTFF personnel to replace full time
  employees, only to supplement
• Typical deployment at Firefighter level, but not
  generally as Engineers, Captains or Battalion
  Chiefs
• Often used as in-house program to screen and
  provide potential entry level full-time
  firefighters to agency
• Agencies transitioning from rural to suburban to
  urban experience increasing difficulties
  recruiting and retaining sufficient POC/LTFF
  personnel
• Because most POC/LTFF personnel have other jobs
  and/or go to school full time, a constant
  response is not always guaranteed

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Incidents and Responses

• Emergency Medical Services (EMS) calls total a
  maximum of 64 of all calls for service
• Includes traffic collisions/auto extrications
  (786 calls)
• 70 of EMS calls are Advanced Life Support (ALS)
  calls

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Incidents and Responses

• Apparatus costs per mile range
  from .93 to 3.04 depending on size
  and age of the equipment.
• Emergency calls always take priority
  over non-emergency calls
• Paramedic service began in 1996
  as policy decision of the Board/Council
• If the City Council desired to change the level
  of EMS service presently provided by the Fire
  District to community
• City Council would need to define service desired
• ICEMA approval would be required
• Private providers will pass on additional costs
  to City to meet required level of service, which
  may exceed Citys marginal cost to provide same
  level of service
• fuel and maintenance
  costs only

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Impacts of Alternative Service Models

• Emergency Medical Services are regulated
  by additional agencies other than just
  District oversight
• EMS area is a well-defined and
  highly regulated system governed by
  numerous State laws
• State Health and Safety Code
  Section 1791.1 creates a statewide
  Emergency Medical Services Authority
• State Health and Safety Code 1797.94
  designates the County as responsible for
  overseeing local EMS agencies
• San Bernardino County directly controls Disaster
  management operation, management and enforcement
  of County ambulance ordinances with the exception
  of functions delegated to ICEMA, and designation
  of exclusive operating areas for ambulance
  operators

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Impacts of Alternative Service Models

• State EMS Act of 1980 mandated formation
  Emergency Medical Services Agencies at the County
  or regional level as a result, in 1988 the
  Inland Counties Emergency Medical Agency (ICEMA)
  was created through a joint powers agreement
  between San Bernardino, Inyo and Mono Counties to
  improve Emergency Medical Services and manage a
  multi-county EMS System. ICEMA is charged with
• Fostering interagency coordination
• Providing a liaison with county Emergency
  Medical Care Committees and
  providers
• Assessing designated facilities to ensure
  treatment capability and guidelines
  reflect current medical practice
• Collecting and analyzing data for
  multi-county program activities
• Evaluate and monitor field treatment activities
• Providing liaison and consultant for
  coordination of disaster services
• Coordinate multi-county EMS public education
• ICEMA regulates EMS services and providers
  countywide, including the Rancho Cucamonga Fire
  District.
• Changes in EMS services within the City will
  require the approval of regulating agencies and
  compliance with applicable state and county
  guidelines

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Impacts of Alternative Service Models

• Changes in service levels could
• preclude City from receiving Federal pre-hazard
  and post-disaster funding SEMS NIMS
  compliance
• impact the Citys ability to participate in
  automatic and mutual aid
• require prior public hearing and review per ICEMA
  if significantly impacting EMS services
• Alternative service models may have
  additional impacts to the City,
  including
  cost increases, efficiency
  tradeoffs and differing levels of
  effectiveness

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Impacts of Alternative Service Models

• A necessary prerequisite of any direction to
  issue an RFP is a determination of the scope and
  level of services to be provided
• Initiation of any change in working conditions
  requires meet confer process pursuant to the
  Meyers Milias Brown Act

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Summary Conclusions

• Present day all-risk Fire District model has
  evolved to meet service demands, needs and
  evolution of the City, following model typical to
  urban agencies in California
• Personnel costs are largely governed by FLSA
  standards and State law regarding workers
  compensation presumptions
• Approved Firefighter salary range is between
  55,469.52 and 68,006.88 per year
• - Overtime hours not included in retirement
  calculations
• CHECK Compensation Analysis and Conclusion based
  on hypothetical assumptions that do not reflect
  Districts actual experience

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Summary Conclusions

• Fire District personnel costs in-line with other
  public safety costs and cost-efficient compared
  to other jurisdictions
• 24 hour shift provides standardized minimum
  coverage and response at all days and times at
  efficient levels
• Most urban agencies who have a POC/LTFF program
  do not use POC/LTFF personnel to replace full
  time employees, only to supplement
• Replacement of full time personnel with POC/LTFF
  personnel may have significant operational
  impacts including the level of service provided
  to the community and the Citys ability to
  participate in and receive automatic aid and
  mutual aid

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Summary Conclusions

• Significant changes in working conditions will
  require meet and confer process to comply with
  Meyers Milias Brown Act
• EMS is a well defined and highly regulated system
  and changes in EMS services must meet existing
  laws and regulations at the County and State
  level
• Due to the regulatory environment in which EMS
  operates, significant changes in the scope and
  method of provision of EMS would represent a
  negative impact on the level of services
  currently provided to the community
• Current Fire District Service model provides an
  all-risk response force with operational capacity
  to rapidly respond to and mitigate emergencies in
  an efficient and effective manner that meets the
  communitys service needs and expectations.

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Summary Conclusions

• Because of the critical nature of public safety
  services, and the comprehensive safety network
  provided by the Rancho Cucamonga Fire District,
  changes to the modern day all-risk fire
  department and emergency services model are not
  recommended