Fire/EMS presents ‘cost of service’ analysis to council

Last Wednesday night, Peter Moy from FCS Group, a financial consulting firm hired to analyze the cost of providing fire and EMS services to the city of Stanwood, presented their findings to Stanwood City Council and fire commissioners.

The take-home message was fairly clear: The city is receiving a high level of service for a relatively low cost.

Stanwood is under a partial contract with Camano Island Fire District 1 to provide fire and EMS services to the city’s residents. Stanwood employs several staff of their own and purchases their own fire vehicles and supplies while contracting additional staff and medic units from District 1.

The city currently pays $1,588,108 annually to cover operating costs of contracting fire services, Moy said.

In addition, FCS Group estimates the city pays an additional $146,721 in overhead, which covers liability insurances, computers, and time city administrators spend working with the district.

This brings the grand total cost of current services to $1,734,829.

However, that doesn’t actually cover 100 percent of the cost of services, Moy said.

In the end, the district’s part of the tab is $767,474, bringing the total cost to $2,502,303.

In short, the city benefits from $2,502,303 worth of services while paying $1,734,829.

Per council’s request, FSC Group examined other options for services, too.

One option was a fullservice contract with the district, where the city maintains no fire department of its own.

In this scenario, Moy said, it was assumed that city overhead would be reduced to $51,700, and that this would be the only expense. The savings, $1.6 million, would be collected by the district to pay for services rendered.

In effect, the cost to the city would be the same. The cost to the district, though, would increase, as it would have to hire seven staff and require additional overhead.

The district’s share of salaries and benefits would jump to $1,900,806 and its overhead would increase to $253,649. Cost of supplies and services would also rise, bringing the grand total cost to $2,433,381, Moy said.

Once funds from the city are collected (the $1.6 million “savings”), the district is left with a grand total bill of $792,406, an increase from the current scenario of about $25,000.

Another option Moy presented was a full contract with reconfiguration, replacing the deputy chief position with a captain.

This would save about $105,000 in salaries and benefits, but would cause an estimated increase in district overhead and staff assistance from the country club, Moy said.

Actual savings under full contract without a deputy chief in town would be $83, 493 to the district, not the city, which would still be paying its $1.6 million for services.

A final scenario looks at the cost of the district annexing the city or forming a regional fire authority, but neither of these is viable.

Annexation is only an option if the areas are contiguous, and according to the law Camano Island and Stanwood are not.

A regional fire authority could theoretically be formed, but levy caps restrict taxes from raising enough money to fund it.

The current scenario “is the cheapest option for the city,” said Joyce Papke, city administrator.

Fire Chief Mike Ganz said, for the city to offer the same level of services on its own would cost much more money. Currently, the city is getting a high level of service for a good price, he said.

The city is a hub of activity for many of the outlying areas: Grocery stores, clinics, schools and senior housing all mean the number of incidents in Stanwood are extremely high relative to its low population.

Because of this, the city receives additional benefit from contracting with the district and having additional units nearby on Camano Island, if needed.

One factor that will need to be determined by the fire district is if the benefit is reciprocal. Is it worth it for the district to pick up part of the tab on Stanwood’s services?

Staff Reporter Jeremiah O’Hagan: 629-8066 ext. 125 or ohagan@scnews.com.