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Sedona Fire Board Public Budget Workshop Minutes

Sedona AZ (April 5, 2012) – In the interest of fairness, the Sedona Eye publishes the following April 2, 2012 Sedona Fire District Board Public Budget Workshop Minutes without editorial comment and or edits:

PUBLIC BUDGET WORKSHOP

Station #1 – 2860 Southwest Drive – West Sedona – Multipurpose Room

Monday, April 2, 2012 / 4:00 PM

~ MINUTES ~

I. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL.

Board Present: David Blauert – Board Chairman;  Craig Dible, Phyllis Erick, Ty Montgomery – Members Board

Absent: Charles Christensen – Board Clerk

Staff Present: Kris Kazian – Fire Chief; Gary Johnson – Fire Marshal;  Sandi Schmidt – Finance Manager; Tricia Greer – Recording Clerk

Others Present: 5 Members of the Public

Patrick Whitehurst, Sedona Red Rock News

Mr. Blauert opened the meeting at 4:30 PM.

II. SALUTE TO THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND MOMENT OF SILENCE TO HONOR ALL AMERICAN MEN AND WOMEN IN SERVICE TO OUR COUNTRY, FIREFIGHTERS, AND POLICE OFFICERS.

Mr. Montgomery led the Pledge of Allegiance and moment of silence.

III. PUBLIC FORUM.

No members of the public wished to speak.

IV. BUDGET WORKSHOP.

A. SFD Fiscal Year 2012/2013 Budget Discussion.

Chief Kazian gave a PowerPoint presentation (attached); he said SFD is unique in many ways such as holding the very first Certificate of Necessity (CON) for ambulance service in the State, of which we are all proud; he went through some of our other unique qualities.

Due to the size of our district (168 square miles) and distance to hospitals in Flagstaff and Cottonwood, many ambulance transports take two hours or more; at times, there are multiple overlapping calls which reduce staffing when the ambulances are out of district. He referred to statistics from 27 years ago in 1985 as a baseline, and briefly discussed the transition from mostly volunteer to career, with peak staffing of 117 personnel in 2008.

In 2004, SFD went from an Assessed Value (AV) of $417 million to $802 million in 2009. This year, AV is at $496 million, similar to eight years ago.

Like other organizations, during the years of double digit increases in AV, SFD capitalized and did not change the mil rate from $1.75. After that growth period, AV dropped due to the economy and value of homes, and SFD’s mil rate became a focus point. It would have been wonderful during those years of increase to have the foresight to decrease the mil rate, but “hindsight is always 20/20” and an opportunity to learn for the future.

SFD is now at 103 personnel with 105 proposed in the FY 2012/2013 budget; 12 positions are either vacant or were eliminated including three Firefighters; one of those Firefighter positions is in the proposed budget.

He believes SFD is operating as lean as possible, and although he has not been employed for long, has taken a hard look at the organization and feels comfortable we are being efficient and effective; many hard cost-saving

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initiatives have been undertaken. Overtime has been reduced by 39.5% from $980,000 to the proposed $565,000; staff has been reduced approximately 11%.

Chief Kazian said SFD’s response times are longer than national standards; this is a core service that must be addressed.

Irreversible brain damage can occur if medical attention is not initiated between 4 to 6 minutes; SFD’s average response time is 5 minutes; however, this is averaged with relatively nearby responses such as in Uptown by Station #4 and other response times exceed 15 minutes and those are of concern.

NFPA 1710 was mentioned, but not addressed in the McGladrey Report; this is the standard for four firefighters on a working fire within four minutes and within eight minutes, typically, 17 firefighters to tactically function effectively on an fire scene; he pointed out that would mean our entire daily staffing would be needed for one incident and if a crew is on a previous call, we would not meet that standard.

Our Mutual Aid help is much further away than in urban areas.

It also applies to EMS and Telecommunications for benchmarks.

NFPA 1710 is based on a 2,000 square foot home and many homes and commercial structures in Sedona are much larger necessitating even more firefighters.

SFD’s training hours are not really mentioned in the McGladrey Report and Chief Kazian believes it is important to consider those; making sure firefighters are trained and prepared is critical to safety, survival, and good customer service. A Training Officer is needed and proposed in the upcoming budget.

SFD must be compliant with National Incident Management System to be competitive for Federal grants; he needs to review SFD’s status.

Chief Kazian said SFD’s fire prevention bureau called Community Risk Management is working effectively to comply and those are important core services as well; but, CRM is down 50% in staffing from four employees to two.

Chief Kazian then discussed what core services are important to him including being effective, safe, motivated, educated, compassionate and kind; to make sure response times are appropriate; low injury rates; impacting lives in fire and EMS, as well as saving property. He pointed out it is not just luck that our fire frequency is low because there is a correlation between public education and fire incident rates. He believes in active public education activities in the community.

Team dynamics are important for good internal and external customer service. Chief Kazian shared a story of one of our crews providing excellent service to a resident that was ill and dehydrated and crews responded; the next morning, the same crew went back and brought breakfast to make sure the customer had something to eat; he said those are the kind of employees SFD wants to keep.

Chief Kazian said we must also be fiscally conservative and respectful of taxpayers and public funds. He said this is a major part of both staff’s and the Board’s duties; and that public money must be treated as we would our own finances; he said as Fire Chief, he is dedicated to make sure SFD gets fair prices with quality goods and services. He then listed some of the services provided by SFD for citizens and visitors, which is pretty standard across the nation with the exception of some of the Technical Rescue work we perform. He said SFD is proactive in its services and we want to continue to be so.

Chief Kazian spoke of “doing the same with the same” at a February Board meeting; he said we cannot do the same with less, and if this happens, the Board must have extensive talks with staff about how this is going to occur.

He said the next few slides illustrate we will soon be doing “less with less”, which is the “crossroad” of this Workshop. Do we want to continue what we are doing, fiscally responsibly and effectively? Are we happy in the reductions made or are we looking for more? He then asked the Board what their Core Service Priorities were and requested feedback to have a better understanding of what the Board’s wishes to effectively budget. He asked if we need to make sacrifices, what the Board would be willing to cause; he said there have been many cuts and efforts to make SFD a “lean machine” the Board wants it to be, but we are now at the breaking point and seeking Board direction.

Mr. Montgomery stated he felt Chief Kazian is right on and gotten up to speed with SFD’s issues, and feels it is “black and white” to come up with the budget number that meets our requirements; he said to

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cut further may require cutting services, especially considering the unfilled positions.

Mr. Montgomery said saving a large amount of money in the dispatch center would be great, but it is not realistic to believe it can be done in the next two months and other McGladrey recommendations would take 1 to 3 years to implement. He would rather not use reserves because he believes the organization needs a “cushion”.

Mrs. Erick agreed with Chief Kazian regarding core services being important; she said those are your emergency workers and believes if cuts are necessary, they should come from other supporting areas.

Chief Kazian said they will need to address what the Board is willing to propose and then discuss those ancillary services.

Mr. Dible referred to a fire service motto he read, “to save lives and protect property” and believes everything that supports that is a core service.

Chief Kazian said saving lives and protecting property is what we do, and if we need to make cuts, SFD does not have a lot of extra things that do not pertain to that.

Mr. Blauert asked if Chief Kazian had looked at the extra real estate SFD owns or how it might be addressed in budgeting; the Chief said he has not researched those yet, but there may be opportunities for alternative revenue if there is extra property.

Chief Kazian said he believes the Midway Station is a big issue and some of the other buildings that are called “stations” are actually used for other purposes. He pointed out SFD has reduced its fleet by 10 vehicles and if there is an opportunity to sell property or equipment, that would be considered.

Chief Kazian then gave an exercise in observation and the “gorilla in the room” – the budget. His analogy was we are focused on the mil rate, which is important, but the end number needed to operate the fire district is critical.

The County Assessor determines AV and the Fire Board determines the mil rate; he said staff must understand the Board’s wishes in order to budget effectively.

He asked what we are willing to sacrifice if the mil rate is not raised. He said he has reviewed the budget and sees how efficiently SFD is working at this point in time and that there could be future opportunities to improve, but the budget being proposed is “dialed in”.

Chief Kazian referred to Board Clerk Charles Christensen’s comments at the last Board meeting of wanting to get to the point where raises can be provided again, as those have not been given in three years; the cost of living continues to increase and we must consider employee turnover; he indicated the McGladrey survey spoke of 60% of SFD employees indicated they would look for other employment in the next year; he believes that is a “huge red flag” for the Board and as the Fire Chief he is alarmed; SFD loses expertise and professionalism when tenured employees leave.

Chief Kazian said the continued trend in AV for the last couple of years is important and we are anticipating an AV decrease in 2014/15 because the taxing process is two years behind any economic recovery.

In comparison to peer agencies, all but one of our peer group fire districts are planning an increase in their mil rates.

He mentioned House Bill 2184 to temporarily increase the maximum mil rate of $3.25 by 50 cents; there are estimated 30 Arizona fire districts currently at the maximum rate and yet, SFD continues to keep our mil rate at $1.40.

He compared it to a game of “chicken” and “who’s going to blink first”; Chief Kazian said staff is not proposing a budget to make SFD the highest paid district or have the highest number of personnel, but rather, is just trying to provide the core services efficiently and effectively; he believes at the $1.40 rate, this will not continue.

He asked why SFD should “handcuff” or “paint itself into a corner” with this self-imposed mil rate of $1.40. He showed a chart of the last few years of mil rates of peer agencies. He reminded them of the huge decrease in AV and the expectation of about 11% next year and are budgeting and planning for an approximate 5% decrease the year after.

SFD is operating with approximately $8 million in tax revenue which is approximately the same as in 2005/2006; he commented costs of living have not remained the same for those seven years.

Chief Kazian stated at one point in time, SFD had many large capital projects pending, but have since been unfulfilled for whatever reason and have gone through those capital reserves to a point where SFD will be going negative very soon and cannot continue going to the “piggy bank” of reserves and survive long-term.

For 2013, at $1.40, SFD gets revenue of $6.952 million which is dangerously low; in 2014, there will be an estimated 10.93% decrease with $6.19 million revenue and in the next year of 2015, SFD

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would be at $5.8 million in tax revenues and then, expect to remain fairly even in 2016.

In the right hand column, the current reserve balance is estimated; it is not exact because we have not reached the end of Fiscal Year 2012 for carryover, but based on carrying over $4 million and tapping into reserves, the capital reserves start to disappear;

Chief Kazian said SFD would have $961,915 in reserves which is not enough and the following year, SFD would be “in the hole” at a $3.269 million deficit; he said SFD cannot exist at that number without drastically cutting core services and in FY 2014/2015 and 2015/2016, SFD could not operate as a fire department – not even as a volunteer department; he said it is a serious problem when you subtract $13 million deficit of reserves from the $8 total revenue.

Chief Kazian said SFD will not survive at $1.40 at that point in time; he said we can cut whatever the Board desires and survive this year, but even with the most drastic cuts this year, next year, and through the year 2014/2015, only a few people will be left working at SFD; he said he does not know if as a Fire Board, they want to be responsible for making that happen; he wants everyone to understand this is not just an opportunity for him to paint a terrible picture because these are real scenarios and SFD is at the crossroads.

Chief Kazian said SFD is right in line with its peer agencies in number of personnel and services provided, but as the chart indicated, Sedona is the only agency that has had a decrease in its mil rate in the last three years and the others will most likely increase theirs in FY 2012/2013.

He stated if SFD stays at $1.40 this year, it will probably need to increase the mil rate in the following year drastically to survive, which will become a political issue; he said the mil rate should be a “balancing act” of increasing with AV decreases and decreasing with increased AV to provide core services efficiently and effectively.

The Chief then re-focused attention to the budget; SFD is a service industry and personnel are our biggest asset and the biggest part of our budget; cutting the budget means cutting employees and noted that already SFD is down 11 or 12 positions which is about 11% of staff.

He said decisions also have to be made about capital improvements. He would like to focus on being budget and tax neutral; if the mil rate is increased, taxes may not increase but remain the same, and although the mil rate may be increased, taxes the homeowners pay may remain neutral.

Even maintaining $1.40, taxpayers will not see huge decreases in their taxes. He said the damage done to our fire district may be irreparable if we do not consider increasing from $1.40. He asked the Board to provide a number with which they are comfortable as a mil rate; he said staff would make whatever cuts are necessary to meet that number, but to be aware we are at the point where cutting numbers now means services.

Chief Kazian briefly reviewed some responsibilities of the Fire Board as outlined in the AFDA handbook and reviewed some SFD financial policies including maintaining a Fund Balance of 15% which is about $1.8 million of the proposed budget;

SFD will soon not be meeting its own policy. Additionally, according to policy, we should be providing a five-year plan for forecasting revenue expenditures and today’s presentation only went through three years.

Chief Kazian said he is honored and humbled to be at SFD and has seen amazing things from personnel in his short tenure as Fire Chief; he said it is obvious to him what must be done in order to maintain core services as expressed earlier. He does not want to give out “doom and gloom” warnings, but believes there is a direct relationship to the services SFD provides and having to remove them to be able to effectively and efficiently operate.

Chief Kazian said focus should be on strategic planning so we do not have future issues of spending money on projects that are not brought to fruition. He also wants to build trust across all disciplines and although he understands the citizens and Board have an appreciation of services, we must dedicate focus on efficiency and effectiveness to provide the best and most fiscally responsible services.

He said by moving the mil rate, individual homeowner taxes do not necessarily go up because of the decreased AV; as mentioned previously, we want to maintain budget and tax neutrality.

Strategic Planning will help us accomplish many goals. Capital improvements must be addressed; SFD spent $644,000 on property for the Midway Station which is still not determined will be built. He said his

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goal is to replace three vacant firefighter positions by hiring one per year for the next three years to get back up to proper staffing.

SFD needs an ambulance and fire engine refurbishment.

Chief Kazian also wished to clarify some of the “myths” regarding SFD including the inability to close stations at night or operate as a volunteer department. He acknowledged that worked very well in times past, but now, would not with the amount and types of calls.

The chief also explained a Reserve program must be carefully balanced, or as happened in the past at SFD, we become a “training ground” for employees to move on to full-time jobs at other agencies which is not a money-saving operation.

Chief Kazian said firefighters are paid overtime and there is no way around this as a service industry and again, reminded all about the 39% decrease in overtime over the last five years; overtime is in all fire department budgets.

The final myth is that we could implement McGladrey’s recommendations and save $1.7 million this year; even the McGladrey representatives spoke of a 1 to 3 year implementation and even if we could save $1.7 million this year, we would still be “in the hole”.

He said we have to balance the “fine line” of citizens wanting to maintain services and to cut taxes; he said he does not believe SFD is providing services at exorbitant costs as he has heard and which is a myth.

Chief Kazian then opened discussed for the Board to share any questions or philosophical thoughts. Binders with the proposed FY 2012/2013 budget were distributed; staff is proposing a $12.323 budget which includes COLA and step increases, one firefighter position, a training officer, and turnout gear for a reserve program; he said capital improvements will need to be discussed and included as well. He is researching a SAFER Federal grant to possibly help with funding firefighter positions.

Mr. Dible asked if budget information would be available to the public; Mrs. Schmidt said the budget would be available at the two library branches and eventually on the SFD website;

Chief Kazian said the public is always welcome to come to the station to look through the budget and ask questions; we would appreciate a call beforehand to make sure a staff member is available.

Mrs. Erick referred to the Expenditure side under EMS and asked if that number was an error;

Chief Kazian said some figures were moved from one area of the budget to another to be more in align with what the Department of Health Services (DHS) want to see for their annual report;

Mrs. Schmidt explained 24 “ambulance service” employees were moved in the budget to make it easier to complete the DHS reporting.

Chief Kazian noted in the proposed budget, there were positions for 49 firefighters and 24 EMS personnel for a total of 73 operational members.

Mrs. Erick asked why Administration went up more than $100,000; Mrs. Schmidt explained the Executive Assistant position and pertinent accounts were moved from the Fire Chief’s budget section into the Administrative section.

Mrs. Erick asked about the $12,000 ambulance billing increase; Mrs. Schmidt said that includes COLA and step increases, as well as training added back in; Mrs. Schmidt said the Specialist has been offsetting some of those costs on her own to attend the annual legal conference.

Mrs. Erick asked about the increase in the Fire Board account; Mrs. Schmidt said that includes an increase in legal fees to $100,000; Chief Kazian said last year, the amount budgeted for legal fees was $40,000; it was increased to more accurately reflect usage.

Mr. Montgomery noted the Board would need to spend time going through the binders to formulate questions for the next meeting. He said the fundamental question is the semantics of mil rate versus taxes; he looks at the bottom line figure to the taxpayer opposed to the mil rate itself which is a multiplier. He said if, philosophically, some members of the Board feel raising the mil rate is raising taxes, he does not believe that because as discussed, we are aiming to remain tax neutral.

Chief Kazian said Finance has a spreadsheet that shows by changing the mil rate how the bottom line is affected; this will help us all to realize how much of the reserves will need to be “grabbed” to get to a comfortable number, but then, next year, we will be having the same conversation only talking about drastically increasing the mil rate which will be a political ramification issue; understanding the AV is decreasing and to provide emergency services at the level we want to provide may require a mil rate increase.

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Mr. Blauert asked the percentage of houses and commercial in the district that are sprinklered; Fire Marshal Johnson said he does not have a percentage on-hand, but would estimate there are approximately 1600 sprinklered single-family homes; he said it would require research between the counties and City.

Mr. Blauert said that might help in our ISO rating;

Fire Marshal Johnson said it would help in the commercial application;

Chief Kazian said ISO regarding residential includes how far away a fire station is from your house, type of training, water system, and dispatch.

Fire Marshal Johnson added that sprinklered commercial buildings reduces water requirements which enhances the ISO score; in SFD’s latest review, we received a 3/8 B with 3 being a good score and the 8 B referring to structures more than 1,000 feet away from a fire hydrant; he said using franchise money, SFD is working with the City and water companies to address those issues; outside the City limits, the ISO ratings are a 4 or a 10, with 10 meaning the property is more than 5 miles driving distance to the nearest station.

Chief Kazian said the ISO is a very complex scoring process and this discussion would be needed for strategic planning; the results of a higher ISO mean higher insurance rates versus higher taxes.

Mr. Dible stated the mil rate seems pivotal to this discussion and distributed a handout he prepared (attached); he said the presentation was excellent, focused, and liked the core service concept. He is not taking a position as to whether the mil rate needs to be increased or kept the same at this time.

Mr. Dible explained the millage is the tax rate used to calculate taxes and one mil equals $1 for every $1,000 of taxable property value. He clarified his position that if your home is valued at $100,000 with a mil rate of $1.40, then your property tax would be $140; if your house’s value decreases to $50,000 at a mil of $1.40, then your property tax decreases to $70; if the property value remains at $50,000, but the mil rate goes to $2.80, then although your taxes remain the same amount as before, the home is worth less, so the increase in the mil is an increase in your taxes. He used the comparison of a Vehicle License Tax (VLT) to support his position that a mil increase is a de facto tax increase and believes it is confusing to state otherwise.

Chief Kazian said that makes sense in principal if you have property that is worth less and paying the same, but does not believe it is a tax increase to the bottom line.

Mr. Dible disagreed and said you are paying on an asset that is worth less;

Chief Kazian said it depends on how you want to look at it.

Mr. Dible said it may be necessary to increase the mil rate, and the Chief has made compelling arguments, but he is not “going there” at this point.

Chief Kazian said the relational experience is you get “less for less”;

Mr. Dible said it may be necessary, but he wants people to understand it does increase taxes.

Mrs. Erick agreed and said this is the way she has seen it ever since former-Business Director Karen Daines presented it that way; she said she did not “buy it then” and does not “buy it now” and they are expressing how they see it.

Chief Kazian said this is the way fire district administrators operate and as Fire Chief, he is tasked with providing services; he is trying to continue to provide effective services at the current level.

Mr. Montgomery said he believes it is semantics because if the value of his house drops by half, his power bill and other expenses do not decrease by half because of the value of the asset; he believes just because the value of properties have decreased, it does not cost any less for SFD to do the same job, which is the fundamental part of the argument.

Chief Kazian asked when the AV goes up, would we keep the same argument and say we are not going to touch the mil rate; if not, then at some point, the district would get back to the point of double digit increases; just taking the stance that $1.40 is where we are going to “live” forever no matter how low AV goes is a problem.

Mrs. Erick pointed out we have the $13.2 million for FY 2011/2012, but basically, we are still at $11.75 approximately because we have not touched contingency.

Chief Kazian said that is a misnomer in all the years’ budgets of a large contingency held over for capital items such as the Chapel Station; so, if there is a $15.9 million budget in 2008/09, a large number of that was carryover contingency; we are strictly looking at the levy brought in and the tax revenues at $1.40 mil rate is $6.952 million, which means at a $12.32 budget, SFD would be short $3.2 million; he said if we continue to live at this pace and take from the reserves, it will not leave anything for when something bad happens and it does not help us at all for that following year; he said we must have a long-term plan and try to buffer that large increase in mil rate that some Fire Board will be pushed to do, or to literally shut down Sedona Fire District, if we do not address this issue.

Chief Kazian stated “this is

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not a scare tactic”, but if we take the “piggy bank” this year, next year, we will be talking about mil rate numbers that are incredibly high; he will then have a hard time explaining to the citizens why we had to go from $1.40 to $2.40.

He pointed out there is absolutely no money included in the proposed budget for the Chapel/Midway Station because he has received no direction on proceeding. He thanked staff for their help in today’s meeting preparation.

Mr. Dible received a report on the consolidated Cottonwood dispatch center today and there is a strong final business case report; the Cottonwood City Manager is urging the other agencies to integrate funding into next year’s budget for the project; he suggested this be discussed at next week’s Budget Workshop.

Mr. Dible said he would bring copies of the case report to Station #1 tomorrow for the other Board Members to pick up, although it should be kept confidential.

Chief Kazian said we would need to discuss this fairly quickly to include in budgeting and it would increase the budget number we are requesting; he pointed out there is no contingency in the proposed budget, like the Board included last year.

Mrs. Erick asked Chief Kazian what is his suggested mil rate; he responded with SFD having a shortfall of $3 million plus, a mil rate of $1.65 would be close to managing reserves in a safe capacity, although this is a “guesstimate” without looking at the numbers; then, perhaps, $1.75 or $1.80 the following year, with that neutral third year.

Chief Kazian pointed out there are still unknowns in the budget such as insurance, Workers Comp claims, property and liability insurance, and other items over which we have no control.

Mr. Blauert asked the Board to send questions via e-mails to Chief Kazian instead of waiting until next Monday’s Workshop.

Chief Kazian responded he would appreciate that so staff can be prepared with good answers.

In closing, he said if the Board says they are not moving from $1.40, then Board and staff will need to have a serious discussion about cuts and these will be critical issues; he asked the Board to keep that in their consideration when deciding what they are comfortable in approving; he stated he appreciated Mr. Dible’s and Mr. Montgomery’s comments regarding the semantics of taxes, but we are trying to have a minimal impact on our citizens’ out-of-pocket costs and maintain our core services.

V. ADJOURNMENT.

The meeting adjourned at 5:55 PM.

David Blauert, Chairman of the Board:tg

 

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18 Comments

  1. JRHeguy says:

    I am shocked that the 3 recalled members, after almost 2 years on the Board have no knowledge about the Budget and the damage they have done. The appointed member shows why these three appointed him.
    Throw them all out! Good luck Chief Kazian, you’ve said nothing new, but the last Chief Hazime told them the same thing and they ignored him.

  2. Concerned Taxpayer says:

    “Chief” Hazime, from the SFD Budget workshop 4/13/11 , page 6,” In my professional opinion, this reduction of $2.5 million from the annual budget could cause loss of life and property within the Sedona Fire District.”

    Does this sound like someone who would cooperate and provide information to the board on cuts?

  3. Ralph says:

    Thank you for sharing the minutes. Was very impressed by how comprehensive and educational Chief Kazian’s presentation was. His historical backdrop was very useful in seeing how the Sedona Fire District came about. The review of the mil rate was also a big plus. I also listened to the entire budget presentation by going to the SFD web site and was very impressed by the fact by the amount of detail Chief Kazian provided in his report. He definitely did his homework and has his finger on the pulse of his organization. His efforts are sincerely appreciated!

  4. Glenn Shannon says:

    The apology for not lowering the mil rate when property values went sky high is no excuse. The fire department was costing over twice what the school system was collecting. I thank those 3 that are being recalled because they reduced the outrages budget expenditures. I like it when there seems to be no place to save when I see fire department vehicles being used for shopping purposes or other non department uses. Anyone who says this isn’t happening is blind. Yes our mil rate is lower than the others mentioned because our property values are much higher than the other areas. In this budget even though personal is the largest expense there is no figures produced here. To me it was a lot of reading with little information available. Like they say figures lie and lairs figure.

  5. Concerned Taxpayer says:

    You have to look deep in the budget, pages 34 and 35 of 125 where it shows the position schedule. 5 people in Finance, 2 in administration, a human resources manager and assistant, 4 battalion chiefs, 15 captains, a chief, assistant chief, a chiefs management assistant. One supervisor to every 1.8 staff in the 911 center. There is more, but take a look on Sedona Fires website yourself. A Ladder truck, which can’t even get to most of Sedona because of the narrow streets and a wild lands truck.

    What do we hear from the new chief? We need to raise the mil rate. No, we need to cut some staff and sell some equipment.

    Even better, go back to a volunteer fire department.

  6. Tom Longo says:

    Glenn,

    The only reason the mil rate was lowered was to eliminate the reserve that was set aside to build the Midway fire station.

    Even though the 3 being recalled ran on a fiscal conservative platform, they managed to waste $200,000 on a worthless audit and $140,000 on unnecessary attorney fees. Chief Hazime and staff were the ones who reduced the budget…the recalled board members want to take credit for it. Unfortunately, they “talk the talk, but don’t walk the walk.”

    Time for a change!

  7. Carl says:

    OK, Tony (concerned?) we get it. You don’t like facts. You have a grudge. You’re too stupid to let the grudge go and face facts. Bet you will vote for Paffrath cuz it seems like you two get your intelligence from the same pipe?

  8. GW says:

    I’ve been reading everything I can that the internet has published about the SFD over the last two years… including all of the (redacted??) SF Board’s meeting minutes; along with articles and comments here in The Sedona Eye and The RR News.

    Well then, I guess this is what happens when Jones Town… er… ahh… sorry, I mean when Sedona voters elected three emotionally stuck at 13 years old Angels who think they are adults… and who also think Tea is way too taxing, way too expensive and bad tasting while drinking cheap Kool Aid is a real sweet way save allowance money.

    I suggest that those three angels drink lots and lots of it and then they can go be our hero’s by putting out the next fire in the same way they’ve relieved themselves on the SFD’s hot budget.

    Think of the money they can save us all, if they handle all of the fires for us and they get rid of the real firemen altogether and they buy more cheap Kool Aide and take care of fires for us… forever and ever, amen.

    Then the real adults can then sit back and enjoy a nice cup of expensive tea, which will be able to then afford… knowing we are all safe and secure… living in our little piece of heaven on earth…. next to the yellow stream of Oak Creek.

  9. Bill, uptown says:

    Could we please stop talking about the school district costs and the SFD costs in the same sentence? There isn’t and never has been any similarities between the two districts and I know that as a honcho with the schools. The school districts do not provide any similar SFD service so the comparison is moot. I’ve seen it enough times from a few writers that I must speak out. Use an analysis or a metaphor that makes sense. No one should have elected anyone who used a school district’s numbers to determine if a fire, rescue, and ambulance district was performing. Please desist from being so ill-informed when you choose to speak or write. It’s annoying.

  10. Concerned Taxpayer says:

    Around 2002 SFD had two events that increased their spending enormously.

    Housing values in Sedona jumped, and their were two firefighters wives on the board to make sure it was all spent. According to the SFD website, the SFD budget went from 6.6 million in 2002 to 15.9 million in 2009.

    Did your income go up 240%? SFD’s did.

    Now it needs to come back to reality. Which is about 8 million accounting for inflation for a district this size. According to SFD it needs to be 12 million or we are all going to die. The last major fire was Lumbermans in 2005 according to the SFD. All going to die, I doubt it?

    As to SFD legal fees, a private citizen can call the SFD attorneys and get it billed to SFD. Hazime’s resignation and replacement incurred additional fees.
    This is just a guess, but when you are passing out money as SFD did in the past, the whole staff joins in. When you try to cut an entrenched bureaucracy, you better check with your lawyers.

    I think the board of Blauert, Christensen, and Erick, working for free to make SFD an efficient and responsive depart should be commended.

    If you want to check my facts, they come from Sedona fire.org.

  11. jane aire says:

    school districts vs the fire district – Well when tax payers are paying for the children to get a decent education and the tax payers are paying for grown adults employed at SFD to get an education for an in-house promotion I see an opportunity for concern and reevaluation.

    Why is it that the tax payer is expected to pay for the education of the employees of SFD so that those employees can get promoted to an even higher pay step?

    My child will have to study hard & work for scholarships & grants while in the public school system as well as hope that I as a tax payer have something left to donate to further her education yet these grown adults expect me as a tax payer to pay for their educations for their promotions as well?

    I don’t know how many of you readers had the expectation or the convenience to have your college credits fees dispersed amoungst the tax payers so that you could get promoted in your choice of career.

    With a child in the school system, I personally am getting alot more out of the school system on a day to day, month to month or annual basis than I am from the Sedona Fire District. My child goes to school 9 months out of the year, every year, but I have never had the need to call upon or utilize SFD.

  12. Joe Mitchell says:

    Think I smell a paffrath with some of these comments? Not a smart paffrath at that.

  13. Glenn Shannon says:

    Gee Bill did you read concerned taxpayer as to how many people are above the fire fighters? Their administration is way out of line and on this there can be no dispute. Yes I know the school system doesn’t go and fight fires but when comparing costs to run one system against another there is a correlation. If the school system had the administration the fire department does could just imagine the cost. Wish the people that have a personal interest in a large SFD budget would come forward and identify themselves in your articles so to make it easier to see they want again to hose the taxpayers.

  14. Tom says:

    jane~as a senior living in the SFD district, I have more of a need of a well-trained firefighter/paramedic who is there 24/7 in case I have a medical emergency, than a schools system. Yet, I am subsidizing the education of your children and everybody else’s children which costs me far more than the professional services being provided by SFD staff. As a taxpayer, I expect for them to have the best training money can buy and the same applies to the police officers in our city.

    As you can understand, as a senior, I personally am getting a lot more out of the Sedona Fire District on a day to day, month to month or annual basis than I am from the school system. Yet, I am willing to help pay for your children’s education which costs me far more than I pay for SFD services. Shouldn’t you be willing to do the same?

  15. jane aire says:

    Tom, paying for training – continuing education for the operations personnel so as to have competent responders is one thing.

    Paying for ANY SFD personnel to obtain AA, bachelors and masters degrees that enable them to receive an in house promotion is what I am referring to, and something completely different all together.

    With you being a senior citizen, my contributions to social security are funding your generation’s monthly payments – as your contributions funded the generation prior and I have no qualms or complaints about that – same goes for the school district. My child’s education – Kindergarten through 12th grade is being funded by the current adult tax paying contributions, as were the generations before and as will the generations after. However, the Post-High school, Secondary education (College) will not be paid for by the tax payer (unless of course she gets on with Sedona Fire District).

    Like I said, continuing education – to ensure the operations personnel are competent in their chosen career path is one thing – to have any and all SFD personnel expect the tax payers to pay for their continuing Post-Highschool, Secondary education (College) to get them promoted is another thing completely.

  16. M allen says:

    Jane/Tony/Lowell/Justin

    Let it go. Walk away.

  17. Kevin says:

    I see that you are advertising for the recall candidates and that is bias. We need to keep the present budget slashers who want to sell off the equipment and return the fire department to volunteer services that work fine before and will work fine in the future. We should join with other fire departments and not keep a fire department sleeping on the job when we don’t need them. We need to slash the budget more and because most of us don’t ever need the fire department it could be a pay as you use service and people should have to subscribe to get the services.

  18. Mrs. Rodger Thomas, VOC says:

    To all of those people that want to go back to volunteers, can you all please answer one question for me, who do you think will volunteer?????

    Most of the population in Sedona is way over 50 years old and all or most are retired and possibly over the age limit if there is one. Of those younger men willing to volunteer, when will they have time to take approximately 1500 hours of training just to obtain their certification, work their normal jobs AND share time with their families, ALL FOR FREE????

    I have a nice young neighbor down the block that used to be on the volunteers way back when, he said that for those who REALLY volunteered, it took a lot of his free time but, back then he was single working at Basha’s and didn’t have to answer to his family.

    Now, he says that with his 2 jobs, wife and children there’s no way that a person can give that much of themselves FOR FREE! Also, what employer could afford to let one or more of their employees leave work, whenever there was a medical call, I believe that there were 65 medical calls last month. What business can afford to allow that anymore?

    So, let’s stop this nonsense about volunteers as no one could afford to do that in today’s times.

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