The Mojave County Firefighters Association has voted unanimously to initiate a fact-finding process to establish a joint authority.
In a June 27 letter to the Mojave County Fire Department, MCFOA President Jack Yeager announced: Advantages of joint authority. This direction comes from the County Firefighters Association and not from any particular individual or organization. ”
Yeager’s letter asks interested ministries to respond by August 1 so that the next step in the financial feasibility study can begin.
Arizona law expressly allows fire districts to enter into agreements to establish separate legal entities. In 2017, the North County Fire and Medical District (formerly Suncity West Fire District and Whitman Fire District) and South County Fire and Medical District (formerly Sunlakes and Tonopah Fire District) Boards of Trustees approved the adoption of an intergovernmental agreement. bottom. The agreement establishes Maricopa County’s first fire and medical authority. In 2023, the Buckeye Valley Fire District will become a third-party agency under the Authority.
In this model, school districts maintain individual tax rates while maintaining local control over budgets and services provided. However, the personnel, equipment, facilities and day-to-day operations of the Consolidated District are governed by the JPA or the Authority’s Governing Board.
Since then, many firefighting organizations in Arizona have moved to a shared service model due to a variety of constraints, including funding limitations, tax rate caps, and budget growth caps.
“Following the failure of Proposition 310, which would have greatly aided the future funding of Arizona’s fire districts, the vision of the fire district leadership is to improve the funding situation in order to operate the business efficiently. It was about looking for ways to improve, whenever possible,” Yeager wrote. “What will continue to happen is that operating costs will grow at a rate that significantly exceeds the ability to provide operating funds.”
In the letter, Mr. Yeager noted that MCFOA would change the formula for the potential for a county-type sales tax, to better meet the funding needs of counties (the Fire District Assistance Tax), and for state governments to address their funding needs. He pointed out that they are considering it through discussions with policyholders.
“After many discussions with our members about these issues, we decided it was time to find our own solutions to our fundraising challenges,” he wrote. These challenges could potentially be addressed through integration, intergovernmental agreements, or the JPA.
“With a joint authority administration, all fire districts would be able to maintain their current elected boards and tax rates,” he wrote. “This could also give municipalities the option of becoming part of the organization. Each participating fire district would maintain its own political branch, but would transfer the resources of labor, assets and governance representatives to the new fire authority. will be provided to
The Mojave County Firefighters Association is a non-profit organization formed to provide a common voice to fire and emergency service providers in Mojave County.