Bodega Bay Fire Department

Regular Meeting

September 14, 2010

Note to self: get to meetings on time and turn in the report sooner. A week is too long to wait. Just saying.

Budget shows some red ink

The first item on the agenda was the budget, a draft of which has been available for public viewing since June. I wasn’t yet in attendance, having arrived late, during the closed session for the fire chief performance review. I’m going to assume there was not much discussion on this item because it was the second reading. The appropriations limit is set at $2,189,625, but there doesn’t seem to be much danger in reaching that amount.

The special tax rate is set at $131.10 per unit and fees are due to be raised (it has been five years) but the budget still has a deficit of $238,542. Operating at a deficit is like driving without much fuel—you can only run in the red for so long before you stop running all together. Taxes bring in $1,325,369 and fees add another $230,000. Add in some $20,000 from other sources and you have total revenues of $1,574,804.

The money is disappearing down the same hole that all our public money seems to go down—into the pockets of workers. $1,352,286 of the budget is earmarked for salaries, retirement, workers comp and benefits. This is not a surprise. Budgets at schools, fire halls and other local districts all over the county look much the same: more than 2/3 of the budget goes to people, while the remainder ($421,040, in this case) covers supplies, equipment, services and maintenance.

Light shines at end of meeting

Some light shone on the process that brings this kind of spending about later in the meeting, when we addressed the final item on the agenda. Fire Chief Sean Grinnell recommended to the board that they bump up their Employee Assistance Program, used primarily for trauma counseling but also providing a bevy of other benefits. It is currently at the lowest level and costs $588.50 per year and only covers the full-time employees. He wants to spring for the upper level plan that runs $2,106.40 per year and covers the volunteers and interns, as well. 

Even though the change is within his discretionary spending limit, he brought it to the board for a straw poll. The Board was all in favor, with Director John Doolitlle remarking, “(o)f course we should provide this.” Well, of course we should, but that begs the question of how to pay for it. 

The Board is eagerly searching for answers, however. The strategic planning committee has begun to meet and the Board has held the first of several planned retreats. They are going to need it. One of the problems with a budget comprised mainly of salaries is that it is impossible to make cuts without lower staffing levels. The flip side of this painful coin is the scarcity of revenue sources available to not-for-profit institutions.

Now, where were we?

The rest of the meeting went smoothly, with President Cathy Beck wrestling procedural questions to the ground, valiantly wielding Robert’s rules as if for a much larger crowd. (Speaking of which, there was one member of the public in attendance!)

The correspondence, mostly from people the District had served, was all favorable. Chief Grinnell reported that staff issues “had been challenging for weeks” but that now “everything is good.” He has been trying to get in touch with CalTrans regarding a piece of property opposite the Bodega Dunes campground that the District calls Station Two. The water tender is parked there over the winter and he wanted some sort of official sanction. The only word back is that CalTrans wants a single tenant. 

The property also has several school buses that park there regularly and the CHP likes to take advantage of it, as well. Oh, State Parks likes to use it, too. Sounds to me like the longer CalTrans keeps acting like the District “fell off the face of the earth,” as Chief Grinnell put it, the better.

Speaking of the water tender, all those winters out in the elements seems to be taking its toll. Seals are weathered, leaks are developing, the paint job disappearing, and rust beginning to show on some of the body. It can all be repaired, but the recommendation from Firefighter Justin Fox is to replace the unit sooner rather than later. That prompted Chief Grinnell to recommend that the Board reconvene the equipment committee, which in turn prompted a lot of small talk and explanations.

In addition to the tender, a new ambulance and new breathing apparatus are going to be needed soon (did I mention we are still paying off the previous purchase of two ambulances?). Cathy asked if the committee would be standing or ad hoc and when Chief Grinnell answered ad hoc, board member Tony Anello immediately volunteered. Fire Captain Todd Rollings noted that he and Justin would be on the committee. Then there was silence and all eyes turned to Cathy. “You’re looking at me,” she told Chief Grinnell and laughed. I’m pretty sure she was volunteering.

Chief Grinnell laid it all out: “Given the amount of the budget deficit, equipment purchases will go by the wayside. The big picture is what the committee will have to address.” The Board agreed to convene the committee ad hoc for now, with the understanding that it would probably become a standing body in the future.

The MOU with the firefighter’s union has been signed. This was the second reading before the Board and they accepted it unanimously. The line of credit with Sonoma County, required to cover cash flow, was accepted unanimously, as was the reassigning of two budget codes that simply moved separate funds back into the big pot.

Fees going up, but not anytime soon

After learning that the strategic planning committee had nothing to report, and hearing again about how we had fallen off the face of CalTrans’ earth, we moved on to the fee increase. That discussion was not quite as cut and dried, partly because this was the first reading. Not that anyone was against hiking the fees. They just wanted to know some more about the process.

It goes like this. Chief Grinnell has collected all the info and just has to fill out the forms. It was complicated by a new procedure. In the past, they simply divided how much had been spent on things like ambulance rides by how many had been delivered to arrive at a per trip figure. New regulations, however, require that the department soundly justify its expenses. “We have to charge based on cost,” as Chief Grinnell explained. The new methodology will also allow them to analyze costs, determine when to rotate stock and separate out training expenses. But it is much more of a pain to accomplish. We still need a second reading and 45-days public notice before the new fees will go into effect.

And, lastly, the weed abatement letters have gone out. Every year, there are several properties that are unkempt and pose a potential fire hazard to the neighbors. And every year, the department has to go through a convoluted legal process to allow them to hire a contractor to mow and/or disc these lots. That process is now complete. Several lots have been abated and the others are in process. “I see it as the cost of doing business,” said Chief Grinnell.

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