Calif. Dispatch Service Shifting Costs to Fire Agencies

Dec. 24--The emotions have settled down as partners in the Stanislaus Regional 911 dispatch service work on a new model for allocating costs to member agencies and try to make the service operate more efficiently.

In November, the commission that oversees the emergency dispatch center approved a plan that shifts more of the costs from law enforcement agencies to fire departments. Operated through a joint powers accord between the county and Modesto, Stanislaus Regional 911 handles dispatches for Modesto police, the county Sheriff's Department, the Modesto and Ceres fire departments, and rural fire districts.

County officials were taken aback when a May 2014 consultant's report, commissioned by Modesto Police Chief Galen Carroll, blasted the dispatch center, airing years of frustration for MPD officials. The report said the department wasn't getting its money's worth from the center because of ineffective management, a demoralized workforce and out-of-control employee costs.

County Chief Executive Officer Stan Risen and Modesto City Manager Jim Holgersson smoothed things over by hiring Matrix Consulting Group to study issues at the dispatch center. Deputy City Manager Joe Lopez and Assistant County Executive Officer Jody Hayes have led a subcommittee that's evaluated the Matrix recommendations.

A new model for allocating $8.1 million in annual dispatch center costs to member agencies is set to take effect with the start of the next budget year in July. Rather than basing each agency's costs on population and call volume, the new model distributes 75 percent of costs based on the dispatch resources assigned each day to Modesto police, the sheriff's office and its four contract cities, and fire agencies.

The remaining 25 percent of cost allocations are based on annual incident counts for individual agencies. Officials said the new formula makes sense because dispatch staffing is daily committed to each agency, whether it has 10 calls or 1,000.

The plan is a method for allocating costs to agencies in the short-term. The partners in Stanislaus Regional 911 have yet to discuss an agreement for running the dispatch system after the joint powers accord expires in 2019.

Officials are still figuring the cost implications of the short-term model for member agencies. But a comparison in a staff report shows a $100,000 net increase in cost for Modesto, as costs are shifted from police to fire service. The combined dispatch costs for the sheriff's office and Riverbank, Patterson, Waterford and Hughson police could decrease by almost $700,000.

The plan could shift more than $1 million in costs to city and rural fire departments. The burden for rural fire districts will likely fall on the county general fund, because the county fire warden's budget has picked up dispatch costs for districts serving the unincorporated areas. The county makes a decision on the subsidy year by year.

"The fire districts probably won't notice a thing," county Supervisor Bill O'Brien said.

The fire warden's office has not covered Newman's fire dispatch costs since Newman police departed from Stanislaus 911 a year ago.

Hayes said cost implications of the new model will be discussed with the agencies in January and February. The member agencies could consider lowering their costs by having fewer dispatch resources dedicated to them, though it could affect service levels.

In addition, the county and Modesto are trying to further reduce costs by setting budget targets for the dispatch center. Managers will prepare two budget scenarios for cutting costs by $500,000 and $1 million, and show how the proposals would affect service.

Dave Woods, president of the Stanislaus Consolidated Fire Protection District board of directors, said Wednesday that he was not aware of the new cost-allocation plan but was interested in reviewing it.

Fire Chief Mike Hillar of Burbank-Paradise Fire District said the plan will squeeze fire district budgets if the shifted costs are not borne by the county. The chief said it's an opportune time to discuss other concerns with dispatch services.

"I don't want to comment too much," Hillar said. "There needs to be a complete look at the system and how it is functioning."

Modesto Councilman Bill Zoslocki, who was chairman of the Stanislaus 911 commission until last month, said the city and county are making progress on issues with the dispatch center.

He said he believes the center can cut overtime costs by having more personnel cross-trained in using different types of communication systems. If there is a busy day for police calls, the center incurs overtime costs by calling in additional dispatchers, instead of moving people over from another channel, Zoslocki said.

The councilman said the Stanislaus 911 partners are working through the issues without finger-pointing.

The county and the union representing dispatchers have held 13 negotiating sessions on a new contract and have taken their remaining contract issues to a mediator. The costs of a new contract are unknown.

O'Brien said he believes measures can be taken to reduce expenses at the dispatch center.

"A lot of concern with 911 service is that we are spending too much money on it," O'Brien said. "I don't know if we can get to $1 million (in cost reductions), but we won't know until we do that exercise and know what it does to levels of service."

Ken Carlson: 209-578-2321

NEW COST ALLOCATION MODEL FOR 911 SERVICE

Member agency

Current Cost

New Model

Difference

Modesto police

$3,404,960

$3,077,847

($327,1113)

Stanislaus County

$2,093,447

$1,535,447

($558,000)

Riverbank

.$397,582

$347,360

($50,222)

Patterson

$354,260

$312,830

($41,430)

Waterford

$135,848

$110,871

($24,977)

Hughson

$122,081

$99,571

($22,510)

Modesto Fire

$851,240

$1,286,515

$435,275

Ceres Fire

$114,142

$244,753

$130,611

Stanislaus Consolidated

$86,028

$184,469

$98,441

Oakdale Fire

$27,000

$137,448

$110,448

Patterson Fire

$33,712

$72,289

$38,577

Burbank-Paradise Fire

$29,018

$62,224

$33,206

Salida Fire

$28,676

$61,490

$32,814

Oakdale Rural Fire

$20,486

$43,929

$23,443

Hughson Fire

$20,266

$43,457

$23,191

West Stanislaus Fire

$17,651

$37,848

$20,197

Keyes Fire

$17,284

$37,062

$19,778

Newman Fire

$18,000

$23,118

$12,337

Turlock Rural Fire

$10,781

$23,118

$12,337

Woodland Fire

$9,754

.$20,916

$11,162

Denair Fire

$8,312

$17,823

$9,511

Westport Fire

$6,772

$14,521

$7,749

Mountain View Fire

$4,327

.$9,279

$4,952

Note: The county may continue to cover dispatch costs for rural fire districts.

Source: Stanislaus Regional 911

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