The Arizona Daily Sun
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — The city of Flagstaff is looking to try something new when it comes to training its firefighters for leadership positions.
Flagstaff Fire Chief Mark Gaillard will propose a two-year pilot program with Summit Fire District at Tuesday’s Flagstaff City Council meeting. The program would involve the city making one of the Fire Department’s battalion chiefs an acting deputy chief and assigning that person to Summit Fire for day-to-day operations.
In exchange, Summit Fire will pay the city $72,500, which will cover the increase in pay and benefits for each Flagstaff employee who will be promoted into new temporary positions, Gaillard said. Summit will also provide coverage for the Flagstaff Fire Station on Fort Valley Road when that crew is out on a call.
Summit has stations in Doney Park as well as along Highway 180 on the west side of the San Francisco Peaks.
Summit Fire District Board Chairman Howard Nott said he thinks the agreement will be beneficial to both the city and the district.
Summit will get a fire chief, Flagstaff firefighters will get leadership experience and both departments will get experience working together.
Fire districts and fire departments have faced a number of difficulties since the economic downturn in 2008, Nott said.
In 2008, Summit lost about 48 percent of its income from property taxes. Then the Arizona Legislature capped fire districts’ tax rates at $3.25 per $100 of assessed value. Then last year, the Legislature tightened the financial screws a bit more by limiting how much property tax assessments can grow a year to a maximum of 5 percent.
Despite the new tax limits, the owner of a $300,000 home in Summit pays three times more in property taxes for fire and emergency services than the owner of similarly priced home in Flagstaff pays in property taxes that cover all basic city operations.
The district has cut staff from 48 to 37, temporarily closed some stations and it is buying used equipment instead of new in an effort to save money.
“We’re down to a skeleton crew and equipment wears out,” Nott said. “We had to replace five or six air tanks last year at a cost of $150,000. We couldn’t keep using the old tanks, they were too old and unsafe.”
“Districts everywhere are having a hard time finding funding for anything. We’ve applied for grants but they usually go to the big city fire departments,” he said.
At Flagstaff Fire, the situation is a little bit different, Gaillard said.
The economic downturn has prevented the department from hiring new staff. But departments like Flagstaff are seeing large numbers of their senior leadership or administrative members retire all at the same time, Gaillard said. So many are leaving that the next crew of employees to step into the positions haven’t had the chance to build the experience they need.
“They’re calling it the retirement tsunami,” he said.
The Flagstaff Fire Department has 85 personnel located at seven stations throughout the city; 18 employees in leadership positions have retired in the last five years and another 23 are eligible to retire in the next five, Gaillard said. The department doesn’t have the funds to hire experienced people.
While the partnership with Summit will mean an increase in duties for some Flagstaff Fire employees, it will also give them much needed leadership experience for when the next group of fire captains and chiefs retire, he said.
At the same time, both departments will be getting training on each others’ equipment and the way they do business, Nott said.
Copyright 2015 The Arizona Daily Sun
All Rights Reserved