The
following is a Guest Column written by Alachua County Commission chairman Lee
Pinkoson that ran in the Gainesville Sun today:
When
it comes to fire/rescue, public safety should be the number one concern for
both the Alachua County and City of Gainesville commissions.
Unfortunately, money is the driving force in our current discussions with the
city regarding the Fire Service Assistance Agreement (FSAA).
It
is important for both citizens and commissioners to understand the history of
the FSAA. For decades, the two fire departments had been crossing
jurisdictional lines to assist citizens. For decades, the county paid the city
because they responded in the county more often. When the city successfully
annexed the area around SW 20th Avenue, the financial dynamics changed. Due to
the location of County Station 19, the county was now responding to more calls
into the city. For the first time, the city had to pay the county. Even
though the annexation brought in more tax revenue, paying the county did not sit
well with the city. This reversal of payment was the turning point for the
FSAA. The conversation became about money instead of public safety.
Contrary
to the spirit of the FSAA, the then city commission (completely different than
the current commission) approved stationing a two-person squad at a nearby
hotel to intercept calls normally handled by Station 19. It was a move
motivated strictly by money. The FSAA, as intended, was providing a high level
of service to the citizens in this area. This breach of trust resulted in the
pendulum swinging back to the city's favor to the tune of approximately $2
million per year. This number does not include approximately $1 million
in uncompensated responses currently provided by Station 19 into the city. The
county decided that implementing the Fire Master Plan, which calls for new fire
stations to serve the growing population in the unincorporated area, was a
better use of tight dollars and would lessen the county’s dependence on the
city’s fire department.
The
FSAA expires on June 1st. The county has continued to be open to discussions on
how to best serve the public. In recent months, the county commission was
rebuffed twice when suggesting that they meet with the city commission to
discuss the agreement. Even at this eleventh hour, the county continues to work
for a compromise that keeps the safety of our citizens as the number one
objective in both the short and long term.
County
Manager Lieberman recently sent a proposal to City Manager Lyons that includes
terms that would be equitable to both parties, utilize resources efficiently,
and provide a high level of service to our citizens. The plan includes:
1.
The co-location/relocation of city and county resources to decrease the number
of cross-jurisdictional responses. It would also be a positive move in the
direction of consolidation, a move supported by our citizens. The city would
save many millions of dollars by not having to build two stations.
2.
The county will continue to implement its master plan, placing new stations in
areas which will lessen the city’s responses into the county.
3.
The manager proposed basing response reimbursement on the actual cost of a
response, as opposed to including the fixed costs of operating and staffing a
station. Including fixed costs in the reimbursement formula is inherently
inequitable. Dividing the number of responses by the total time committed to
incidents would be a fair and equitable arrangement.
4.
With the deadline looming, the manager proffered a 90-day stop-gap agreement.
This agreement will allow time for details to be finalized and brought to the
respective commissions for approval. During this period,
cross-jurisdictional responses will be compensable to both parties and
reimbursement will be based on the time committed to incidents.
The
city and the county work successfully together on many issues. These successes
most often go unnoticed. Due to differing perspectives, cities and counties
sometimes disagree. I am hopeful that in this case, for the safety of our
citizens, we will put our heads together and resolve this issue.
Lee
Pinkoson
Alachua
County Commission Chairman