CORINTH - City leaders here have begun talks with Lake Dallas, Shady Shores and Hickory Creek as the first five-year contract for fire service between them comes to an end.
Corinth's city manager, finance director and fire chief gave a brief report to the City Council during a workshop session last week outlining those issues they need to discuss with the other cities.
On the table is a proposed vehicle replacement fund and a guaranteed funding floor. But off the table are any proposed locations of another fire station.
City Manager Jim Berzina and Lake Cities Fire Chief Curtis Birt told the council that station location talks are important, but they recommended that those talks be conducted separately from talks about providing day-to-day fire service.
"All four cities are really dependent on each other," Birt said.
Birt and Berzina suggested that future growth in Hickory Creek could increase the demand on the department. In 2010, Hickory Creek approved the creation of a special taxing district to fund some high-density development just outside its town limits.
But Birt also suggested that growth in demand could be managed similar to how the Argyle Volunteer Fire District serves Lantana. Residents of Argyle, Bartonville, Copper Canyon and Northlake pay taxes to Denton County Emergency Services District No. 1 to fund the Argyle fire district. But Lantana's two special taxing districts contract with the Argyle fire district for services.
Corinth fully assumed the Lake Cities Fire Department as a city department in 2008. Prior to 2008, the department was a free-standing unit. Funding its annual budget was a frequent point of contention between Corinth, Hickory Creek, Lake Dallas and Shady Shores.
Berzina told the council that the city staff had already had some preliminary discussions with representatives from the other cities. Both the Lake Dallas city manager and the Shady Shores mayor were comfortable with Corinth's proposed terms. Hickory Creek's town administrator told the Corinth staff that the Town Council would probably want to lead the talks.
The city proposed to keep the funding ratios the same, Berzina said. In other words, Corinth's share of the fire department's $4.2 million annual budget is 59.2 percent, or about $2.5 million this year. The share for Lake Dallas is 21.3 percent, for Hickory Creek, 13 percent, and for Shady Shores, 6.5 percent.
In 2007, when delegates from all four cities negotiated the transfer, they sought mediation and eventually settled on a formula that considered such variables as the number of calls, population and property values.
Corinth Mayor Paul Ruggiere was part of those talks. The group was not able to settle back then on what was a "true cost driver for the department," he said.
However, City Finance Director Lee Ann Bunselmeyer told the City Council that after analyzing several years' worth of data on the city department, no matter which way she weighted the formula, there was little difference between the variables in determining any city's fair share.
As a result, Corinth is proposing to keep the same ratios used for the operations budget to set up a dedicated vehicle replacement fund, she said.
During the first five-year contract, Corinth taxpayers paid $1.5 million to replace equipment and vehicles, including pumper trucks, command vehicles and ambulances.
During the second five-year contract, the city is proposing that all the cities contribute to a $1.3 million pay-as-you-go fund for such replacements, Birt said.
The previous five-year contract tied its funding increases to the Consumer Price Index. That will stay the same, except when the index is flat, or negative - as it has been the past two years. For the next contract, Corinth proposes a minimum 2 percent increase each year.
Bunselmeyer said the funding floor was needed primarily to cover the rising cost of health insurance benefits expected in the coming years.
City Council members generally agreed with the proposed terms recommended by the senior staff, but cautioned that a shorter contract term may be in order. They told Berzina that they were comfortable with him continuing the talks with the other cities.
They also agreed with Birt that talks over station locations should be conducted separately.
The council showed a willingness to consider abandoning both current locations in favor of other locations that might improve response times.
The department serves about 33,000 people in 30 square miles.
Birt said the department's current Insurance Services Organization rating of 4 - a rating that affects the cost of property insurance - takes a beating because of the department's response times in some parts of the district.
A station built on the edge of the service area, such the department's station on the north side, gives the gift of better response times to another fire district, Birt said.
"I think of it as a 360-degree circle around the station," Birt said. "Up there, it's just 180."
PEGGY HEINKEL-WOLFE can be reached at 940-566-6881. Her e-mail address is pheinkel-wolfe@dentonrc.com.
