Financial Analysis Of Career Fire Districts in Greenburgh

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From the Town of Greenburgh:

Police Chief John Kapica provided me with the following report on the fire districts. The complete report with the charts will be posted on the website later today. Please read and provide the members of the Town Board with your feedback. PAUL FEINER

To: Paul J. Feiner, Supervisor

From: John A. Kapica, Chief of Police

Subject: Career Fire Districts in Greenburgh

Date: June 5th, 2009

You have requested that I provide you with information that might tend to support a consolidation of Greenburgh’s three career fire departments that could result in a savings to taxpayers residing within the three fire districts. Unfortunately, I cannot provide you with specific information on this topic since I lack sufficient knowledge about firefighting operations to render an informed decision on the subject. However, in an attempt to be somewhat responsive, the Assessor, Edye McCarthy, and I have prepared a number of charts which compare expenditures for fire services under the control of the three career fire departments with services provided by the Town under the Town Outside1 (“B”) and Town Wide2 (“A”) budgets. As explained more fully below, in total, six comparisons were performed. One set of charts compares the expenditures for fire protection services in each career district with the cost of all other services provided residents of that district by the Town under the Town Outside and Town Wide budgets. Included in these other services are Police, Community Center, Public Works, Recreation, Library, Town Council, Supervisor, Town Clerk Assessor, Town Court, etc. Additional charts compare the combined cost of fire protection services in the three career districts with the combined cost associated with all other services provided by the Town under the Town Outside (“B”) and Town Wide (“A”) budgets in those districts.

Since fire protection services are analogous to police services in that both directly affect the public safety, we have also attempted to illustrate the comparable cost of fire and police services both within the career fire districts and throughout the unincorporated area of the Town. However, because of the manner in which the Town Budget is prepared, that is the expense for operating a department is found in one section of the budget while fringe benefits and debt service are in others, it is extremely time consuming to calculate the actual total cost associated with a specific department, especially one as large as the police. In contrast, the budgets of the three career fire departments reported in the Town Budget depict the total projected expense of running that department for the fiscal year. In order to better compare the cost of providing fire protection services with police services without going through the compilations and calculations that would be required to provide a meaningful comparison, on these charts we have increased the expense of the Personal Services portion of the Police Operating budget by fifty percent (50%) to account for items such as employee benefits and debt service. Although somewhat inflating the cost of police services, this will provide a more meaningful comparison of the cost of providing fire protection and police services in Greenburgh.

Additionally, since unincorporated Greenburgh residents also pay a portion of the $15,146,832 Town Wide budget, on Charts 1 – 8, we have compared the cost of what taxpayers pay for fire protection under the

1 That area outside the six incorporated villages within the Town.

2 The area comprised of the six incorporated villages and the unincorporated area of the Town. 1 2

control of the three career fire departments with the services provided by the Town under both the “A” Town Wide and “B” Town Outside budgets. Included under the services supported under the Town Wide budget are the Town Council, Supervisor, Justices, Comptroller, Assessor, Clerk, Attorney, Engineering Judgment and Claims, Advanced Life Support, Animal Control and a number of others.

The final comparison, Charts 9-10, depicts the cost of fire services throughout unincorporated Greenburgh (including the seven fire protection districts3) with the cost of providing police services to the unincorporated Town. Although the fire protection district contracts are with volunteer services that are considerably less expensive than similar services provided by paid firefighters, this comparison is also informative. Each comparison shows the various expenses as a percentage while the other depicts the expense in dollars.

Some additional assessments were also made with other communities in Westchester and New York State who have paid fire and police services. These can be found in Table 1 on page 6. Since Greenburgh is one of only a handful of communities in Westchester in which fire protection services is primarily provided by career officers, it is difficult to draw accurate comparisons between what the Town and other communities pay for fire protection services. Comparison of individual budgets is also difficult because some jurisdictions prepare their department budgets similarly to Greenburgh in that the Operating Budgets for each department are listed separately from employee benefits while others, such as the City of New Rochelle, include the cost of benefits under each department and debt service separately. Additionally, the career fire departments in cities within the county serve the entire population of those communities while the career departments in Greenburgh serve only a portion of the population. These disparities make it difficult to draw meaningful comparisons although we have noted several that we believe relevant.

BASIS OF COMPARISON

All calculations involving comparisons of fire protection services with other Town departments were based on information found in “The Town of Greenburgh Adopted Budget for Fiscal Year 2009.” That document indicates the assessed valuation of the entire Town and the Town Outside to be $578,922,513 and $313,273,346 respectively, while the assessed valuation of properties in the Fairview, Hartsdale and Greenville Fire Districts are $87,043,364, $70,468,142 and $72,176,395 in that order. Therefore what is necessary to determine the percentage of total appropriations paid by taxpayers within each of the three career fire districts is to simply divide the assessed valuation of that district by the total assessed valuation of the Town Wide and Town Outside. These calculations indicate that taxpayers in the Fairview Fire District pay 27.79% of the total appropriations in the Town Outside Budget, while those in Hartsdale contribute 22.49% and Greenville 23.04%. Since the total Appropriations for the Town Outside in 2009 are $62,454,980, Fairview fire district property owners/taxpayers will pay $17,356,239 of that amount while property owners/taxpayers within the Hartsdale fire district will be responsible for $14,046,125 and those in Greenville for $14,389,627. Collectively, the assessed value of the properties within the three career fire districts is $229,687,901 or 73.32% of the total assessed value of the Town Outside. Therefore, the people residing within the area serviced by Greenburgh’s three career fire departments will contribute $45,791,991 towards the total Town Outside budget of $62,454,980. Dividing the $229,687,901 assessed value of property in the three career fire districts by the total assessed value of the entire Town realizes the figure .3968. Consequently, the taxable properties within the area served by the three career fire districts represent 39.68% of the total assessed value of the entire Town. Using this figure we can calculate that property owners/taxpayers within the career districts will pay $6,010,263 of the $15,146,832 Town Wide (“A”) Budget.

Note: These calculations are based on the overall budget number, not the amount to be collected in property taxes.

3 The Town of Greenburgh contracts with the Villages of Ardsley, Elmsford, Hastings-on-Hudson, Irvington and Tarrytown to use their volunteer fire departments to provide fire protection services to those sections of the unincorporated Town not covered by the three career fire districts. 3

Using these same percentages we can also determine the amount that each district will pay of the operating budget of each Town department (i.e., Police, Community Center, Public Works, Recreation, Library, etc.). For example, as depicted on one of the enclosed charts, property owners/taxpayers in the Fairview Fire District will pay $11,098,500 for fire services in 2009 but only $6,270,897 for police services. As previously mentioned, to make the comparison between the cost of police and fire more valid, we have adjusted4 the Personal Services portion of the Police Department Operating Budget by fifty percent (50%) to account for Employee Benefits and debt service. As an offset to this increase, the Employee Benefits expense on each of these charts has been reduced by a commensurate amount.

FINDINGS

Cost of Fire Protection Services - The major finding in this comparison was that the expense associated with providing fire protection services within the area of unincorporated Greenburgh served by the three career fire districts is significantly higher than in other communities within Westchester in which this service is also afforded utilizing career employees. Aside from Education, it is the single most expensive service provided taxpayers residing within the areas served by the three career services.

Comparison between the cost of Fire and Police Services - While there are substantial differences in the services each department delivers, fire protection (under the control of the career fire districts) and police services (under the control of the Town) are analogous in that both are first responders to occurrences that directly endanger life and property, which often places these employees in harm’s way. Both services are also proactively involved in public education and inspection programs to reduce the incidence of conflagration and criminal activity which fall under their respective responsibilities.

With one notable exception, within the larger5 municipalities in Westchester County that support both paid fire and police departments, the budgets of police departments are notably larger than that of the fire departments in their respective municipalities. The most significant reason for this is that in these jurisdictions the operation of the police department generally requires more employees to administer, thereby greatly inflating the personal service cost of that budget. This disparity holds true for all large municipalities throughout the state which fund both these services. The exception to this lies within the Town of Greenburgh where the combined budgets of the three career fire departments, which protect 73.32% of the Town Outside ratables, greatly eclipse that of the police department, which safeguards the entire unincorporated area of the Town. Because of the nature of the services provided by police and fire and this blatant funding anomaly between career fire districts and policing in Greenburgh, our comparisons also include the fire and police budgets of surrounding departments as well as some other cities statewide. This information is contained in Table 2 on page 6.

STATISTICAL INFORMATION

Information for the Fairview (www.fairviewfire.org) and Hartsdale (www.hartsdalefire.com) Fire Districts was obtained from their Internet Web sites. Although the Greenville Fire Department does not maintain its own Web site, information about it was obtained from the Fire Department Network Web site, which is a nationwide resource for fire department information. That Web site address is

4 Unadjusted Personal Services expense is $13,801,928 for all of unincorporated Greenburgh. The property owners/taxpayers in the three career districts pay 73.32% of this amount or $10,119,573. Increased by 50%, this number becomes $15,179,360, which is then added to the $1,368,156 that represents the balance of the Police Operating budget for a total of $16,547,516.

5 The cities of Rye and Peekskill also are combination departments staffed with career and volunteer members. Peekskill has 24 career officers and 200 volunteers while Rye has 17 career officers and 113 volunteers. Although both are funded through municipal budgets, because a great deal of the service provided is conducted by volunteers, their budgets are comparatively small.

4

www.firedepartments/newyork/scarsdale/greenvillefiredistrict.html. T

The three career districts contribute to the New York State Police and Fire Retirement System out of which pensions for firefighter employees are paid.

Fairview Fire Department – The Fairview Fire Department Web site indicates that the department employs forty-four (44) career and eight (8) volunteer firefighters working out of two fire stations. Although the site does not mention civilian employees, there is at least one employed by the district. The 2009 Budget for the department is $11,098,500. Of this amount, $6,092,737 is listed as salaries.

Hartsdale Fire Department – The Hartsdale Fire Department Web site indicates that the department employs thirty-seven (37) career and twelve (12) volunteer firefighters working out of two stations. The Web site does not mention any civilian employees. The 2009 Budget for the department is $9,669,091. Of this amount, $5,336,679 is listed as salaries. Greenville Fire Department – The information obtained from the Fire Department Network Web site indicates that the department employs thirty-two (32) career and fifteen (15) volunteer firefighters and one (1) non firefighter employee. The 2009 Budget for the department is $7,267,740. Of this amount, $4,062,500 is listed as salaries.

According to the information obtained from the Web sites, the combined number of career firefighters employed by the three districts is one hundred thirteen (113). As indicated in the Adopted 2009 Town Budget document, the combined budgets of the three career fire districts for 2009 is $28,035,331. Of this amount, $15,491,916 is listed as salaries.

Combined, the property owners/taxpayers within the three career districts will pay $45,791,991 of the $62,454,980 Town Outside Budget in addition to $28,035,0+ 31 to support the three career fire districts, and $6,010,263 of the Town Wide budget of $15,146,832 for a grand total of $79,837,585. The total cost of services provided exclusively to property owners/taxpayers living within the area of the three career fire districts that are funded under the Town Outside budget is $78,827,322. Fire protection services consume thirty-eight percent (38%) of this amount while the adjusted6 police budget accounts for $16,547,516 or twenty-two percent (22%), some $11,487,815 less than that expended for fire protection services within the three career districts. To provide some insight into the magnitude of this disparity, the $11,487,815 difference in the cost of operating the three career fire districts and providing police services within this same area could fund the salaries and benefits of an additional eighty-five (85) police officers assuming all are at the top grade pay rate and have family medical insurance plans.

Greenburgh Police Department - For the sake of comparison we are providing statistical information on the Police department. The Police department has funding in its budget for 116 police officers and 17 fulltime and 14 civilian part time employees. Also appropriated under the Police department’s salary (Personal Services) lines is about $29,000 for per diem civilian EMTs. The total cost of the Police department’s Personal Services (salary) expense is $13,801,928. While the Police department services all of unincorporated Greenburgh, its expense for salaries is $1,689,988 less than that of the three career fire districts combined. The Police department’s total 2009 Operating Budget is $15,667,934. When we increase the $13,801,928 expense for Personal Services by 50% to account for fringe benefits and other expenses, the total cost of $22,568,898 for maintaining Police department operations is realized. Again, although this cost represents the expense associated with providing service to all of unincorporated Greenburgh, it is $5,466,133 less than that needed to provide fire protection services within the three career fire departments. To arrive at the total cost of fire protection services for the entire unincorporated portion of Greenburgh, we need to add the $1,913,981 expended to fund the seven fire protection districts to that of the three career fire

6 With the Personal Services expense increased by fifty percent (50%).

departments. This realizes a total cost for fire protection in unincorporated Greenburgh of $29,949,012. See charts 9-12.

The Town of Greenburgh contributes to the New York State Police and Fire Retirement System for its police officers and to the New York State Employees Retirement System for civilian employees. Pensions for police officers are paid by the Police and Fire Retirement System while those of clerical employees are paid by the Employees Retirement System. Contributions differ for both systems with Police and Fire being the higher of the two.

Combined Appropriations

Total appropriations under the Town Wide, Town Outside and career fire district budgets for which property owners/taxpayers in unincorporated Greenburgh are responsible amount to $100,599,943.7 Of this amount, $62,454,980 ($39,886,082 without police) is attributable to the Town Outside budget, $8,195,951 is unincorporated Greenburgh’s share of the Town Wide (“A”) budget and $29,949,012 is for fire protection services ($28,035,031 Career departments and $1,913,981 Fire Protection contracts). Police department expenses approximate $22,568,898.8 Therefore, as a percentage of the overall expense, all services, except police, provided under the Town Outside budget account for 39.65%; unincorporated Greenburgh’s share of the Town Wide (“A”) budget expense is 8.15%; Career Fire protection services 27.87%; Fire Protection contracts 1.9%; Police services 22.43%.

COMPARISONS

As previously mentioned, with the exception of Greenburgh, in communities which support both career fire and police departments, the expense for fire protection services is always considerably less than that of police services. Table 1 lists the total budget of six city departments, four of which are in Westchester, that provide fire protection and police services utilizing paid employees as well as their appropriations for fire and police services and contrasts them with the cost of fire and police protection in Greenburgh. The fiscal years in these communities somewhat vary. Some cities have a July 1st through June 30th fiscal year, while others along with Greenburgh are January 1st through December 31st. In those cities whose fiscal years are July 1st through June 30th, the budget reflected is their 2008/2009 Adopted Budget.

7 Does not include County, School, Special District taxes or account for offsetting revenues.

8 Includes fringe benefits and a significant allowance for debt service which undoubtedly results in an overstatement of the actual cost of police operations. 5 6

TABLE 1 – COMPARISON OF POLICE AND FIRE BUDGETS

NAME OF CITY 2009 BUDGET 2009 POLICE BUDGET 2009 FIRE BUDGET

New Rochelle $146,828,490 $28,775,446 $24,085,125

Mt. Vernon 91,900,000 19,224,820 13,496,467

White Plains 150,603,063 30,596,181 22,011,288

Yonkers 246,285,645 81,994,817 53,442,966

Buffalo 423,373,937 77,325,549 54,781,896

Rochester 478,107,100 78,734,000 41,304,400

Greenburgh

(within the career districts)9 79,837,585 16,547,516 28,035,331

Greenburgh

(unincorporated Greenburgh)10 100,599,4337 22,568,8988 29,949,012

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And the .PDF files, if you are interested:

Police Vs. Fire Budget Comparisons

CHIEF__S_MEMO_TO_SUPERVISOR_ON_FIRE_DEPARTMENTS_Final.pdf

Chief's Memo To Supervisor On Fire Departments

POLICE_V._FIRE_BUDGET_COMPARISONS.pdf

[16fire5 693]

Why is the the supervisor having the chief of police look into this? This really seems out of the realm of a police chief's responsibility. Also why is this reasearch being done on the web? The info could be old and inaccurate. All of this info can easily and legally be obtained through a FOIL request. All this seems a little odd to me. If anyone really wants this to happen they should bring at least some of the players of the 3 Fire Districts in question into the conversation. I don't know much about the dynamics of Greenburgh but from the outside a self started study by the Town Supervisor and Police Chief about Fire District consolidation seems odd and even makes me question the motives of the two individuals behind this so far.

[SRS131EMTFF 471]

Is an independent authority or agency also going to complete a study like this or is this it?

I know there had been other posts about this and I am not sure if this is the study that the town supervisor commissioned.

[JFLYNN 681]

From the Town of Greenburgh:

Wow, according to Police Chief Kapica, Yonkers spends less on fire as compared to police than any municipality in Westchester...who knew?

[Bnechis 3,961]

Is an independent authority or agency also going to complete a study like this or is this it?

I know there had been other posts about this and I am not sure if this is the study that the town supervisor commissioned.

The study of 10 career depts in southern westchester (including these 3) will be delievered to the career chiefs in 15 hours. It will be released to the political leaders, unions, media and others over the next week or 2.

This study was performed by The Edwin G. Michaelian Institute for Public Policy & Management of PACE University

[Bnechis 3,961]

Wow, according to Police Chief Kapica, Yonkers spends less on fire as compared to police than any municipality in Westchester...who knew?

Then it must be true

[firebuff860 54]

Then it must be true

But we are to take the study you have talked about incessantly for 3 years as gospel. Right barry?

[Raz 14]

But we are to take the study you have talked about incessantly for 3 years as gospel. Right barry?

I'd believe a study done by an accredited institute over "a bunch of stuff looked up on the internet" (even if it is by the police chief) pretty much everytime.

[Bnechis 3,961]

But we are to take the study you have talked about incessantly for 3 years as gospel. Right barry?

Nope. The study from The Edwin G. Michaelian Institute for Public Policy & Management of PACE University should be read and reread and questioned. I believe we have answered many of the tough questions, but one of the things that this greenburgh study mentioned is that financially it is hard to compare apples to oranges. For example one dept in our study has about 25 employees, but its budget is almost 2x that of a dept with 45 members, the larger dept.doesnot pay health insurance or pension or rig maintenance (its paid by the personnel dept or public works).

The biggest difference between this study and the Michaelian study is we did not start with the concept of how do we save money. The goal was how do we meet NFPA 1710 and provide proper manning and response times.

Most fire studies that I've reviewed are 50 to 75 pages.This study is 224 pages and its only the 1st step. After everyone (managment, labor&the communities)reviews the study and asks the hard questions they will have to determine if they want in or out. The next step would be an implimentation plan.

So do not read the Michaelian study and "take it as gospel".........We expect it to be questioned.

Why is Paul Feiner doing this study? I bet you will see a proposal at the next election to merge the greenburgh depts based on the new legislation that was just past.

Based on Mondays conference at PACE Law, (managers & Mayors from around the region plus state officials and reps from the Gov.) the state is planning on forcing the reduction of governmental costs in NYS. ALL FD's will be affected.

Hang on to your hats, the next 5 years are going to be bumpy. They made it clear that we will change.....the Michaelian study is pro fire and not a just cut costs no matter what the service effects are.

[antiquefirelt 994]

It sounds like the study BNECHIS details is the proactive approach most FD's should be taking when considering future services. Consolidation, right or wrong will be studied. You can either be driving the bus or along for the ride. Guess who's best poised to get where they want to go?

Another thing BNECHIS mentioned is the study was not based on cutting costs. This is where most consolidation efforts fall apart. It's seems that rarely does consolidation save money. Maybe over a long period, but in the short term? Not so much. Consolidation with an eye toward improving services, aligning policies, procedures and coverage areas, do tend to meet their goals. Realistic goals toward consolidation are needed, cutting costs is short sighted and often tends to show the study proved what many already knew. Think betterment not cheap!

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From the town email list:

Clarification:

The cost of funding our Greenburgh police dept which serves the entire unincorporated section of Greenburgh is $22,568,898.

The cost of funding the three paid fire districts (Hartsdale, Fairview, Greenville) which serves about 73% of unincorporated Greenburgh is $28,035,331.

The town has contracts with seven fire protection districts (volunteer departments) to serve the remaining sections of unincorporated Greenburgh. That cost is $1,913,981.

The comparison: $22,568,898 for the police/ $29,949,012 for fire protection in unincorporated Greenburgh

The police chiefs report on the financing of the fire districts is on the Greenburgh town web site

[Geppetto 31]

Report urges study of fire-district merger

By Stacy A. Anderson

Journal News

June 28, 2009

GREENBURGH - The town has released a financial analysis that says fire protection in unincorporated areas costs significantly more than in other Westchester County communities.

After education, fire protection is the next most expensive service provided to taxpayers, it says.

A continuing debate over consolidating the three fire districts in unincorporated Greenburgh - Fairview, Hartsdale and Greenville - prompted town Supervisor Paul Feiner to ask police Chief John Kapica to do a report that may support the effort. ...

http://www.lohud.com/article/2009906280363

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Apparently, I'm the lowest paid Hartsdale Firefighter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LMAO! I didn't even work there this fiscal year and a half (nor did I recieve any sort of compensation whatsoever)........I wonder where that $15,000 is, lol.......I wish my name wasn't on there.

http://www.lohud.com/article/99999999/DATA...amp;CPIorderBy=

[gamewell45 258]

I don't think anyone said that having career firefighters would be cheap. You want services, there is a cost attached to it; it all depends on the level of service the taxpayers are willing to support.

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Apparently, I'm the lowest paid Hartsdale Firefighter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LMAO! I didn't even work there this fiscal year and a half (nor did I recieve any sort of compensation whatsoever)........I wonder where that $15,000 is, lol.......I wish my name wasn't on there.

http://www.lohud.com/article/99999999/DATA...amp;CPIorderBy=

I stand corrected. I didn't realize what timeframe this report was....I did get two months of pay in 2008 which my wife pointed out, which must be what they are looking at.

The salaries may seem a little ridiculous, but so is the cost of living up there. Having been on both sides of the equation, being a taxpayer as well as a former employee, I got to see the nuts and bolts.........no doubt some of these guys make great salaries, but there is a lot of fat that can be cut, and some of the pay is just downright ridiculous. I looked at the guy who I got on the job with and saw what he was making....but in retrospect I wouldn't trade my life down here now for anything, even though it was tough getting to that point. Firefighter pay in Greenburgh has always been a closely guarded secret. Hopefully now there will be some changes that will allow better staffing without comprimising benefits or salaries, while increasing public protection.

Just one example.....Hartsdale has a "deskwatch" program.......where you basically dispatch and keep records. It is a 24hr shift, and is voluntary. People participating usually get two 24 hour shifts a moonth. That's roughly about $1,000-$2,000 PER shift x 2 times a month (straight time) for each firefighter participating, IN ADDITION to their regular pay. I took advantage of this program, and made really good money from it. Heck, I wasn't saying anything back then, because I was warned not to talk about salaries because they didn't want the public knowing, and as a taxpayer my sky high fire district bill sucked up a large portion of that extra money anyways! It was cake, considering Hartsdale's LOW call volume, especially considering they don't do EMS and only have 2 engines, a truck, and a deputy. Most dispatchers would kill to be able to sleep at night! Both Fairview and Hartsdale dispatch themselves. Even if they didn't want to use the free services of 60 Control, couldn't Fairview and Hartsdale share communications services, and put that extra firefighter and extra money into staffing their truck companies, which are only assigned a firefighter, who is also the driver......they could also work with GPD on a townwide communications center.

However, the firefighters in Greenburgh are well trained, and have fought for good contracts with very difficult districts. I think they are very underutilized, and if you're going to make that kind of money, then I feel that it should be earned and justified-when you add in potential life hazards....it is....also, their fire prevention efforts and code enforcement have saved many lifes..but when you consider facts like Hartsdale doesn't respond on EMS calls or each district has a seperate, highly paid shift commander, or you're paying a small fortune for dispatch services, or only one guy on TL-1 and TL-15, then there is some waste.......