HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 04011986 - RC TO BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
FROM: Resources Committee Contra
Costa
DATE'. March 27, 1986 Co^
SUBJECT: EAST DIABLO FIRE DISTRICT FIVE-YEAR FINANCING PLAN
SPECIFIC REQUEST(S) OR RECOMMENDATION(S) & BACKGROUND AM JUSTIFICATION
RECOMMENDATIONS:
1. Approve the East Diablo Fire District Five-Year Financing Plan as
prepared by Robert M. Nyman, consultant.
2. Request the City of Brentwood to endorse the plan.
3. State the Board' s intent to implement a County-wide fire
protection development fee ordinance as soon as possible.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
The report recommends the adoption by the Board of Supervisors and the city
of Brentwood of a new fire protection facilities fee on new construction
throughout the fire district. It is estimated that such fee would raise
about $685,000 over a five-year period. The fee would average about $480
per new dwelling unit. The report also recommends the commencement of a
process to raise an amount of $35,000 annually from a new district wide
fire suppression benefit assessment. The revenue from such assessment
would be utilized to finance the addition of one fire fighter position.
The amount of the assessment would be approximately $15 per residential
dwelling unit per year.
BACKGROUND:
On March 17, 1986 our Committee met with consultant Robert M. Nyman and
representatives from the County Administrator, County Counsel, Community
Development and East Diablo Fire District to discuss the East Diablo Fire
District Five-Year Financing Plan. The plan sets forth recommended addi-
tions/improvements for the fire district over the next five-year period and
a recommended plan for financing those improvements. Similar reports will
be prepared for the other County fire districts and will be reviewed by the
Committee and referred to the Board as they become available.
CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: - YES SIGNATURE:
RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR i RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE
APPROVE OTHER
S I GNATURE i S I'
ACTION OF BOARD ON April 1, 1986APPROVED AskhECOMMENDED X OTHER
VOTE OF SUPERVISORS
I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE
X UNANIMOUS (ABSENT AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN
AYES' NOES' AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD
ABSENT: ABSTAfN*. OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN.
cc County Administrator ATTESTED April 1, 1986____ __
County Counsel PHIL BATCHELOR, CLERK OF THE BOARD OF
East Diablo FPD SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR
Community Development
City of Brentwood
BY DEPUTY
M382/7-83 �_A
OFFICE OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR
CONTRA COSTA COUNTY
Administration Building
Martinez, California
To: Resources Committee Date: March 11, 1986
Supervisor Tom Torlakson
Supervisor N Cy
Faah_den
From : �"�/UL�t-�-t�_ �``-G�'�-rte Sub'ect
Terrence J McGraw, East Diablo Fire District
Deputy County Administrator Five Year Financing Plan
Enclosed is a copy of the report from Robert M. Nyman, the
County' s fire district financing consultant, which is scheduled
for consideration by your Committee on March 17, 1986. The
report combines the elements of the five year plans for the
former Brentwood and Eastern Fire Districts.
Because of limited potential financing resources, the
financing plan does not include funding for one of the stations
included in the original five year plans.
All the items recommended for funding in Mr. Nyman' s report
have been reviewed and approved by the County Administrator' s
office.
TJM:py
Enclosure
cc: Supervisor T. Powers
Supervisor R. I . Schroder
Supervisor S. W. McPeak
East Diablo Fire Protection District
R. M. Nyman
851 W.EL DORADO DR.
TELEPHONE: Robert M. y
(91614666-4558 Nyman WP.O.Box 1700
- OooLAN o.CA 95695
February 13, ' 1986
County Administrator
County of Contra Costa
Administration Building
Martinez , CA '
Subject: Recommendations For
Financing Fire District
Five Year Plan -- EAST DIABLO
Pursuant to a contract between the County and myself, presented in
the attached, and summarized below, is the recommended plan for fi-
nancing the improvements listed in the Five Year Plans for the
former Brentwood and Eastern Fire Districts . In this report, I have
combined the items to reflect the consolidation of the two former
districts into the new East Diablo Fire District.
RECOMMENDED ACTION
It is recommended that the County of Contra Costa implement the pro-
posed financing plan by taking the following specific actions:
1 . Resources Committee recommends to the full Board of.-
Supervisors the adoption, by both the County and the
City of Brentwood , of a new Fire Protection Facilities
(developer) Fee on new construction throughout the
district, to raise $ 685, 000 over a. five year period.
(Estimated impact: approximately $ 4.80 fee per average
new dwelling unit. )
Itis additionally recommended that the City Council
of Brentwood be encouraged to enact the fee schedule
as soon as .possible , since the bulk of the revenue
from the fee would eminate from new construction with-
in ,the city' s jurisdiction; and
2. Resources Committee recommends to the full Board of
Supervisors the commencement of a process to raise an
amount of $ 35, 000 annually from a new district-wide
Fire Suppression Benefit Assessment , to finance the
addition of one fire fighter position, as authorized
by Sections 50078 et seq. of the Government Code .
(Estimated impact: approximately $ 15 per average
existing residential dwelling unit per year. )
RECOMMENDED FINANCING PLAN
The plan for achieving the financing of the recommended amounts from
the combined district ' s requested Five Year Plan is summarized
two -
East Diablo Five Year Financing Plan (con' t. )
below ( It is detailed ,in the attachment) :
1 . Plan Development. The consultant met several times with
the district' s fire chief. A meeting was also held with
the city manager of Brentwood. Data used in the planning
process was obtained by the fire chief from numerous
sources , including the city government.
It was determined that the greatest impact upon district
facilities would result from existing and planned de-
velpment occuring in that portion of the district within
the City of Brentwood. New construction in the rural
portions of the district is expected to be modest during
the forseea.ble future .
The City of Brentwood has a redevelopment agency. The
fire chief believes the project work of the program has
been beneficial to the fire district through improved
water facilities which have been part of the program.
2. Methods of Financing Selected. The passage of Propositi.bn
13 has left very few alternatives available for financing
of fire service improvements . From the available alter-
natives , the following two methods appear appropriate for
use by the East Diablo Fire District:
Method of Total Amount Financing
Financing Over 5 Years Covers
a . Fire Protection non-recurring
Facilities ( develop- costs of new
er) Fee $ 685, 000 facilities
b. Fire Suppression annual recur-
Benefit Assessment 175, 000 ring cost
($ 35, 000) of
one additional
fire fighter, in-
cluding benefits
grand total, 8 0, 000
non-recurring
and recurring
# $ 35, 000 per year assessment would continue
( indefinitely) after end of five year period
The basis for recommending the two financing methods is
discussed below:
- three -
East Diablo Five Year Financing Plan (con' t. )
a . Fire Protection Facilities (developer) Fee. As in-
dicated above , an amount of 85, 000 is proposed to be
financed from a. new district-wide Fire Protection
Facilities (developer) Fee , a charge placed on new con-
struction at the time of building permit issuance. The
developer fee is based on a widely-used concept that new
construction creates an impact upon the fire service , and
the fee is intended to be a cost of mitigating that
impact. (Elsewhere in the state , where city governments
typically finance and operate fire departments , use of
the developer fee for improving fire suppression facilities
is common. )
Implementation of the developer fee would be by ordinances
adopted by the Board of Supervisors , for the unincorporated
area.-of the district , and by a separate ordinance(s )
adopted by the City Council of Brentwood. The proposed
fee schedule would be the same, regardless of jurisdiction,
with the proceeds collected on behalf of the district
by each jurisdiction' s building permit-issuing agency.
The $ 685, 000 proposed to be realized over a five year
period from developer fees is the amount needed to finance
the two specific items from the attached list indicated
for such financing. When the $ 685, 000 is divided by the
total square footage estimated by the district to be
built over the five year period ( 2, 300 , 000) , it results in
an approximate rate of 30 cents ( 0. 30) per square foot.
A comparable rate would be used for non-residential con-
struction. For residential construction, a flat-rate
schedule would be used, as appropriate . A flat-rate
schedule would result in an approximate fee of $ 4.80
for an average new dwelling unit.
The 'district estimates that an average of approximately
225 dwelling units will be constructed within the City of
Brentwood and 50 in the unincorporated area each year
during the five year period. Those figures have been used
to estimate the residential portion of the developer fee .
The number of units estimated to be constructed and the
resulting fee schedules should be reviewed annually, as
necessary, to ensure the realization of the $ 685, 000
within the five year period.
An amendment to the County' s General Plan to permit the
use of the developer fee to mitigate fire service impacts
from new construction will be needed. The Board of
Supervisors has already initiated the process needed to
change the General Plan.
four -
East Diablo Five Year Financing Plan (con' t. ) _
b. Fire Suppression Benefit Assessment. The State
Legislature has enacted Government Code sections pro-
viding for the adoption of these assessments for fire
suppression services provided by cities , counties and
special districts . The legal authority commences with
Section 50078 of that code .
The process for using the assessments consists of the
drafting of an ordinance following a model issued by
the State Fire Marshal . The ordinance contains a
uniform schedule of rates based upon the type or use
of property and the risk classification of the improve-
ments on the property. The assessments must relate to
the benefits to be received by the property so assessed.
The assessments apply to most parcels within the
district, however agricultural lands are treated dif-
ferently from others , under the legal base for the
assessments .
A written report is filed containing a description
of each lot or parcel subject to the assessment, the
amount of the assessment for each parcel for the fis-
cal year, and the basis and schedule of the assess-
ments . The Clerk receiving the filing causes a copy of
the notice of filing of the report and the time , date
and . place of a hearing on the assessments to be mailed
to each parcel owner, at least two weeks prior to a
scheduled hearing.
Upon the completion of the hearing of objections or
protests , the Board of Supervisors may adopt the
assessments if it finds the valid protests to be less
than 5% of the total amount of expected revenue .
If the amount of valid protests is more than 5%, the
assessment must be submitted to the district voters
for approval by a majority of those voting on the
proposition. (The assessment must be abandoned if the
protest is 50% or more . )
The adopted assessments are collected along with
the, annual property tax amounts for each parcel.
The legislation authorizing the assessments has a
January 1 , 1988 "sunset" provision. (The Legis-
lature should be urged to extend or eliminate the
sunset clause . )
As indicated in the earlier list,in of methods of
financing recommended , a total of 175, 000 ($ 35, 000
five -
East Diablo Five Year Financing Plan (con' t. )
per year) for the addition of one fire fighter position
is proposed to be realized from a Fire Suppression Benefit
Assessment during the five year period starting with
1986-87.
Based on an estimated 2, 300 existing dwelling units in
the East Diablo Fire District, the average annual amount
of the assessment would be approximately 15 per
residential unit.
The assessment would need to continue indefinetly to
finance the additional fire fighter position after the
end of the five year period.
3. Other Alternatives . In earlier reports on the subject
of fire service financing for Contra Costa County, lists
of potential methods of funding have been included. A
number of these really only related to some form of
borrowing, such as using a lease-purchase method for
gaining the funds to construct a new fire station. The
problem with such methods is that they don' t raise any
new revenue for paying the annual costs ( interest and
redemption) of borrowing. The methods recommended in
this report all raise new revenue , which is precisely
what is needed , if the improvements listed in the dis-
trict ' s Five Year Plan are to be realized.
One alternative that is available is a "special tax"
submitted to the voters of the district for approval
by a: two-thirds vote of those voting on the measure
(Government Code Sec . 50075 et seq. ) . This , of course ,
could be used to finance facilities and services under
the Mello-Roos Community Facilities Act (Government Code
Sec . 53313 (b) ) . However, there is no advantage to the
use of a "special tax" alternative , if the methods recom-
mended in this report receive adequate support from the
community.
4. Additional Information. As indicated in the attached
listing of six ( 6) items , it is not possible to recom-
mend financing for all items at this time . Construction
of the new Station 90N (Lone Tree Rd. & Highway 4,
Brentwood) will need to await the completion of the
realization of the financing for the new Station 92N
(Balfour Rd. & Fairview Avd. , Brentwood) and the ad-
dition to Station 51 ( 12040 Marsh Creek Rd. , Clayton) ,
both of which are recommended for financing in this
report.
Because of the extent of new construction now underway
six -
Fast Diablo Five Year Financing Plan (con' t. )
(and planned) within the City of Brentwood and the need
for that new construction to finance the cost of a new
Station 92N to serve the developing area , it is essential
that the City of Brentwood be requested to adopt the
recommended Fire Protection Facilities developer Fee ,
as soon as possible .
This report was made possible by the work of the fire chief and
representatives of the City of Brentwood and Contra Costa County
governments . I wish to extend my personal thanks for their
assistance and professional work.
Robert M. yman, Consultant
District: County of
RECOMMENDED FINANCING PLAN Contra Costa
EAST DIABLO for
FIRE DISTRICT ADDITIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS
Type of Addition or Amount to be Recommended Method
Improvement Financed of Financing
1 . Station1 ( 1st
St. ,
Brentwood
enlarge garage estimated $ 22, 000
area to accomodate cost covered from
water tanker veh. - - - 1985-86 funds ; no
additional financing
required
2. Station 92N (Balfour
Rd. & Fairview Ave . ,
Brentwood) :
acquire site, con- new district-wide
struct and furnish Fire Protection
new station, to Facilities (de-
replace rented veloper) Fee
station $ 600, 000 non-
recurring
3. Station 9ON (Lone
Tree Rd . & Highway
4, Brentwood) :
acquire site , con- no financing cur-
struct and furnish rently feasible for
new station - - - $ 600, 000 estimated
cost
4. Station 53N ( 16711
Marsh Creek Rd , Clay-
ton) .
construct housing estimated: $ 77, 000
for apparatus cur- cost covered from
rently parked in 1985-86 funds ; no
street - - - additional financing
required
5 . Station 51 ( 12040
Marsh Creek Rd. , Clay-
ton) :
construct housing new district-wide
for existing ap- Fire Protection
paratus $ 85, 000 non- Facilities (de-
recurring veloper) Fee
6 . Station 51 ( 12040
Marsh Creek Rd. , Clay-
ton) :
add: 1 fire fighter new district-wide
position $ 35, 000 annually, Fire Suppression
on a recur- Benefit Assessment,
ring basis commencing with
.1986-87 fiscal year
\ continue to next page
District: RECOMMENDED FINANCING PLAN County of
EAST DIABLE for Contra Costa
FIRE DISTRICT ADDITIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS
Type of Addition or Amount to be Recommended Method
Improvement Financed of Financing
t
Total amounts for Five Year period
covered by Financing Plan:
non-recurring ( fa-
cilities ) $ 685, 000 Fire Protection
Facilities (Developer)
Fee
recurring ( one
additional fire
fighter position) 175, 000 Fire Suppression
Benefit Assessment
grand total 860, 000
over Five
Year Period