REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
June 14, 2018
FROM: KERRI L. DONIS, Fire Chief
Fire Department
SUBJECT:
Title
Approve a 3-year agreement with the County of Fresno to receive County Aid Dispatch services.
Body
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the City Council approve a 3-year agreement with the County of Fresno to receive County Aid Dispatch services. The terms of the agreement include fees of $797,095.00 in Fiscal Year 2019; $821,007.95 in Fiscal Year 2020; and $845,637.82 in Fiscal Year 2021.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The City of Fresno (City) has been under a dispatch agreement with the County (County) of Fresno since February 1, 2006. The current agreement terminates on June 30, 2018. Under this 3-year agreement, the Fire Department will continue receiving County Aid Dispatch services through June 30, 2021.
BACKGROUND
The Fire Department receives in excess of 45,000 calls for dispatch each year. Under the dispatch agreement, such calls are transferred to the County’s dispatch network - County Aid Dispatch (CAD). The CAD system then dispatches the calls to the appropriate responder/agency depending on the type of emergency. CAD system provides emergency responders and the public with efficient and improved response time. With the high volume of dispatched calls for Fire Department services each year, this County service is a necessary and essential element of Fire Department operations and public safety.
The dispatch agreement also relieves the City from having to purchase and maintain expensive dispatch equipment and networks. Under the agreement, all CAD systems and equipment are owned and maintained by the County. The CAD system ensures that all necessary reporting and statistical information is maintained, stored, and filed as appropriate.
The public is best served to have a unified/consolidated dispatch system. A unified system greatly enhances communication and coordination, which ultimately improves response time during emergency situations. The County has the necessary communications equipment and networks in place to effectively serve the City of Fresno and neighboring agencies.
For the past decade and beyond, the Fire Department has been under contract with the County to have emergency calls routed to the County’s dispatch system. Trained dispatchers ensure calls are prioritized, properly channeled, and communicated to the appropriate agencies and responding units.
Service experience has proven to be an effective an efficient since the agreement has been in place.
The Fire Department is requesting a 3-year agreement at this time. Over the past year, both the County and the Fire Department have completed a comprehensive review of terms, scope, updates, costing, and other considerations to ensure the agreement is in the best interest of the Fire Department and County.
In fiscal year 2018, the final year of the existing agreement, fees were $787,572. The fiscal year 2019 fees will realize a 1.2% increase over Fiscal Year 2018 to $797,095. Then the fees will increase by 3% in Fiscal Year 2020 to $821,008, and another 3% in Fiscal Year 2021 to $845,638. The increases are necessary to cover increased personnel costs for the County to provide the service.
ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS
This is not a project pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15378.
LOCAL PREFERENCE
Local preference was not implemented as the County of Fresno is the only entity able to perform this service.
FISCAL IMPACT
The contract will not go into effect until July 1, 2018. Accordingly, there is no fiscal impact to the General Fund in Fiscal Year 2018. The contract was built into the Fire Departments Fiscal Year 2019 budget. Funding for the remaining two years will be included in the budget for the given fiscal year.
Attachment:
County Dispatch Agreement