City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends the City Council discuss the current level of service provided by
the Culver City Fire Department, including factors that impact the current levels of
service, possible funding options for emergency medical services, and direct staff as
appropriate.
BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION
Over the past few years, the Culver City Fire Department (CCFD) has been facing a
number of critical issues that could cause severe impacts to the levels of service the
Fire Department provides to the community. Two of the more notable external
issues are; continually increasing call volumes and fluctuations in emergency room
capacity at local hospitals.
The CCFD’s staffing levels have not increased since the 1970’s while over the past
thirty-five years the number of incidents and many of the workload indicators have
nearly doubled. The daily on shift staffing includes: three (3) three-person Engine
Companies, two (2) two-person Paramedic Rescue Units, one (1) four-person Truck
Company, and one (1) one-person Battalion Chief Command Vehicle.
In early 2006, CCFD staff began developing a five-year projection and needs
assessment to identify the issues and present a number of options to address these
issues. This plan was outlined in the City’s Comprehensive Financial Plan
presented to the City Council on March 5, 2007.
`Meeting Date: 12/03/07 Item Number: A-6
AGENDA ITEM: Discuss the Current Level of Service Provided by the Culver City
Fire Department and Possible Funding Options for Fire Suppression and
Emergency Medical Services .
Contact Person/Dept.:
Jeff Eastman, Fire Chief
Phone Number: (310) 253-5915
Fiscal Impact: Yes [X] No [] General Fund: Yes [X] No []
Public Hearing: [] Action Item: [X] Attachments: [X]
Public Notification:
Master Notification List (11/28/07)
Department Approval:
Jeff Eastman (11/28/07)
City Attorney Approval:
Carol Schwab (by H. Iker) (11/19/07)
Fiscal Impact Review:
Marlee Chang (11/28/07)
City Manager Approval:
Jerry B. Fulwood (11/28/07) City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
The five-year projection and needs assessment identified: 1) statistical benchmarks
and workload indicators to help determine system function and future needs; and 2)
external factors that impact the CCFD’s workload and availability, but are outside of
the City’s control. These external factors can have an immediate impact on levels of
service.
Service levels are monitored using a number of essential statistical benchmarks and
external factors. The statistical benchmarks include:
1. Number of incidents
2. Number of unit responses
3. Response times
4. Company out of service time
5. Number of concurrent responses
6. Number of patients transported outside of Culver City
7. Number of patients transported
8. Number of inspections performed
9. Number of continuing education hours
10. Number of general training hours
11. Number of hydrants serviced and flowed
12. Number of pre-fire plans completed
13. Number of public education hours
At this time, the CCFD is experiencing statistically significant increases in many of
the identified benchmarked external factors. These increases will negativity impact
the Fire Department’s ability to retain the current levels of service.
External Factors
Hospital Availability
Hospital Capacity is a crucial factor in the deployment of CCFD resources. The
capability of local hospitals to receive patients transported by CCFD directly impacts
resource availability and response times. Any decrease in services provided by area
hospitals (e.g. fluctuations in emergency room capacity) has a significant affect on
the service provided by CCFD. Brotman Hospital is a key component of the local
system. Approximately 50% of patients transported by CCFD are transported to
Brotman Hospital. If Brotman Hospital were to close permanently, or significantly
reduce services it would have a dramatic impact on the availability of the City’s
ambulance resources as patients would have to be transported to facilities that are
further away. This would have a significantly negative impact to the CCFD’s levels
of service and would cause an immediate need for increased staffing.
City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
Another critical factor affecting Emergency Medical Service (EMS) in Culver City is
the diversion status of area hospitals. Throughout any given day, local hospitals
temporarily close as ambulance receiving facilities. This is known as diversion
status. There are several categories of diversion status. Diversion status is initiated
by an authorized hospital administrator and tracked by the Department of Health
Services via the REDDINET. Reasons for division status include emergency
department saturation, the absence of an available neurosurgeon, the lack of a CAT
scanner, saturation of trauma or pediatric facilities, and internal disaster (bomb
threats, power failure, etc.). A dramatic increase in the duration that hospitals are on
diversion status would have a similar effect on CCFD resources and response times.
Once again, as the frequency of diversion status increases, CCFD level of service
are negativity impacted.
Government Mandates & Standards
Federal, State, and local government mandates can impact the services CCFD
provides to the community. In addition to Federal and State mandates there are
local regulations that CCFD is obligated to follow. The Los Angeles County
Department of Health Services is the agency that regulates paramedic services
locally. Changes promulgated by this agency can impact the delivery of EMS
services in Culver City.
Traffic Flow
The increase in local traffic also increases CCFD response times. With the growth
in the residential and business population, the development of LAX, West Los
Angeles College, Playa Vista, Symantec, and development outside of Culver City,
Culver City has experienced large increases in traffic over the past few years and
the CCFD expects traffic increases to continue over the next few years.
City Growth
Continued growth and development in Culver City and surrounding areas impact
CCFD levels of service. Daytime and nighttime population has been increasing due
to construction of additional commercial and residential space in the area, which has
an impact on traffic in the City. The CCFD will work with the Community
Development Department to help forecast this growth and determine the impact on
CCFD service levels.
System Demands
System demands are ever present, yet difficult to predict. They include patient
insurance policy changes, age of population, homeless population, epidemic and
pandemic illnesses, and terrorist threats. These are important factors that CCFD will
continue to monitor as they can all impact our levels of service. City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
• Patient insurance policy changes: As coverage changes, there can be an
increase in patient transport requests out of the City.
• Age of population: Approximately 43% of CCFD patients are over 60 years
old. As our population continues to age, call volume will also increase.
• Homeless population: This past year there was a 91% increase in calls for
homeless persons. This is a high risk population. They place additional
demands on local hospital beds causing our ambulances to have to transport
other patients out of the area.
• Pandemic and Epidemic illnesses: Based on history, experts believe another
influenza pandemic is only a matter of time. A severe pandemic could
change the patterns of daily life for some time. An influenza pandemic is
expected to last 1-2 years. Although much less dramatic but very likely, an
influenza epidemic significantly impacts call volume and local hospitals, again
increasing transport times.
• Terrorist threats: In the current world climate, terrorist threat is a constant
strain under which everyone must live and work. This threat requires the
CCFD to diligently train, prepare and staff in order to respond to such
incidents.
DISCUSSION
Due to the increases in external factors currently facing the CCFD, including the
status of Brotman Hospital, CCFD is recommending a change to the current level of
staffing. In order to maintain the existing service levels, CCFD is proposing the
addition of one Paramedic Rescue.
The addition of a third Paramedic Rescue will not only relieve many of the negative
impacts affecting service levels, it will also have a positive impact on the City’s
budget. The Department may experience an increase in ambulance revenues
based on the ability to capture transports that are currently being lost. The
Department experiences a decrease in ambulance revenues when private
ambulances are utilized in place of a CCFD Paramedic Rescues.
The following sections describe a few financing options that may be used to fund the
proposed additional Rescue.
Community Facilities District (CFD)
The Mello-Roos Community Facilities Act of 1982 allows the funding of the
construction or acquisition of real or tangible property with a useful life of five years City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
or more such as streets, sewers, etc. It also allows financing of police and fire
services to accommodate the growing needs of developing areas.
A CFD tax is a special tax levied annually on each taxable parcel in the CFD district
and may be used to finance fire protection and emergency medical services to the
extent that they are provided in addition to those services provided in the CFD area
before the CFD was created. The revenue generated by this special tax must be
used to fund the service for which it has been levied and cannot be used for general
purposes.
Voting for a CFD is done by mail-in ballot and requires approval by a super majority
(67%) of returned ballots. All registered voters within the boundaries of the district
are eligible to vote.
Special Tax for Emergency Medical Services
A Special Parcel Tax is a tax levied annually on each parcel and, similar to the CFD
tax, may be used to finance fire protection and emergency medical services;
however, unlike a CFD, it does not need to be directly connected to an additional
service. The revenue generated by this special tax must be used to fund the service
for which it has been levied and cannot be used for general purposes.
Despite the similarities between a CFD Tax and a Special Parcel Tax, there are a
few important differences between the two funding mechanisms. First, a CFD is a
mail in ballot of all registered voters in the district (in this case, the district would be
the entire City), which provides some flexibility in regards to election timing. A
Special Parcel Tax must be voted on at a general City election. Second, a CFD is
actually a lien on the subject property; a Special Parcel Tax is not. Therefore,
payment of the CFD tax is a much higher priority in the event of a property
foreclosure proceeding. Lastly, a CFD has a separate appropriation limit. A Special
Parcel Tax does not and, consequently, is included in the City’s Gann Limit
calculation.
To comply with Proposition 218, voting for a Special Parcel Tax is done at a General
Election and requires approval by a super majority (67%) since the revenue would
be specifically earmarked for emergency medical services.
FISCAL ANALYSIS:
The costs for the proposed staffing level and equipment needs are identified below: City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
Add one additional Paramedic Unit:
One-
Time
On-going TOTAL
(one-time+on-
going)
6-Firefighter/Paramedics (Salary+Benefits)
6-Safety equipment
Constant Staffing for Paramedic School
(for 6 Paramedics)
Continuing Ed & Quality Assurance
$100,000
$360,000
$957,000
$25,000
$957,000
$100,000
$360,000
$25,000
1-Rescue Unit
Amortization (Paramedic Truck)
Maintenance & Fuel
$176,000
$24,150
$8,000
$176,000
$24,150
$8,000
TOTAL $636,000 $1,014,150 $1,650,150
The total start-up costs for the proposed additional unit are estimated to be
$1,265,150. The annual ongoing costs for the proposed staffing level listed above
are estimated to be $989,150 in fiscal 2007/08. NOTE: Projected ongoing personnel
costs are projected to increase approximately 5% annually (any increase above 5%
is not reflected in this figure) and O & M costs are projected to increase
approximately 3% annually.
Funding
The funding mechanisms described in this report can be used to fund all, or a
portion, of the proposed staffing level and additional equipment identified above.
Based on the estimated costs above, the assessment would be approximately $103
per parcel in the first year and approximately $65 in subsequent years (subject to an
annual escalator).
It is important to note that costs may increase annually due to salary and benefit cost
increases. The identified funding sources should have a built in escalator to avoid
future impacts to the General Fund.
Each of the funding mechanism in this report, can have an annual escalator built in
when it is voted on initially. Therefore, the voters give their approval to increase the
tax annually without having to vote on it annually. The recommended escalator
should include the CPI increase plus the Safety Salary Initiative increase.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Community Facilities District
2. Special Tax for Emergency Medical Services
City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
MOTION:
That City Council:
Discuss the current levels of service provided by the Culver City Fire
Department, the factors that impact the current levels of service, possible funding
options for emergency medical services and direct staff as appropriate.