April 15, 2009

The West Thurston County Fire Districts (TCFD 1 Grand Mound/ Rochester and TCFD11 Littlerock) announced today that they will place an innovative proposition intended to provide the most cost-effective service by consolidating resources on the August 19th, 2009 primary ballot. The fire districts will ask voters to form a Regional Fire Authority (RFA) encompassing the boundaries of the two fire districts. The new RFA legislation allows fire districts to achieve the efficiencies of consolidation; while maintaining local community identity and control. The fire districts will ask voters to approve what they call “the most efficient and cost effective measure available to deliver fire protection, rescue and emergency medical services”.

The Districts have been working on a plan to consolidate resources, restructure overhead, eliminate redundant functions, avoid costs, and maximize economies of scale with an end goal of improving service delivery of fire, rescue and emergency medical service to the taxpayer within the same funding utilized by the fire districts. The fire districts will ask voters to authorize the consolidation and pay the same tax rate they are paying now ($1.50 per thousand assessed value in 2009).

“This is not a proposition asking voters for more funding; it is however a proposition asking voters to authorize more cost effective and efficient service.” The efficiencies are realized in part by restructuring; instead of each fire district funding a training officer, EMS director, accounts payable, payroll clerk and other functions, the new West Thurston Regional Fire Service Authority will consolidate these functions. Service improvements results from applying the savings to 24 hour firefighter and emergency medical staff; in essence putting more boots on the ground to respond to area Resident’s 911 calls for help. The districts are proposing to hire as many as seven new line fire and EMS personnel over the next two years within the same funding limit.

Other efficiencies come by avoiding cost of duplicate back-up units. By regionalizing service the districts will be able to reduce the number of back-up units by sharing fire engines or ambulances when frontline units are being serviced or are being repaired.

The plan is to improve emergency response time by staffing six stations in Grand Mound, Littlerock, Maytown, Michigan Hill, Rochester, and Scott Lake. A combination of career, resident and volunteer cross trained firefighter emergency medical and rescue personnel will staff the stations. The Regional Fire Service Authority will cover 168 square miles in West Thurston County; nearly one fourth of the total Thurston County land mass and respond to nearly 3500 emergency 911 calls the first year.

Under the proposal the combined districts would form the first Regional Fire Service Authority in Thurston County, and one of only a few in the State. The districts have been building the partnership for the last ten years while successfully sharing resources to make improvements to service delivery together, when otherwise stand alone neither district could afford the improvements. The districts cite the addition of the SPRINT Paramedic unit started in 1998 and the basic life support transport service in 2003 as services improvement they funded together.

If voters authorize the measure the two fire districts would officially consolidate on January 1st, 2010. All the current fire commissioners would make up the RFA Governance Board, thereby maintaining local community control. “We believe we are following the advice of the taxpayers by creating a more efficient and effective service. Given the state of the economy a regionalized service approach is a proactive means of achieving the best level of service without asking taxpayer for more money.