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| 3/5/2009 12:11:00 PM | Email this article • Print this article |
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Photos by Cheryl Schweizer
Jamie Myxter, who was hired to facilitate the meeting between the city of Brewster and Douglas Okanogan Fire District No. 15 over dispatch fees, asks about the consequences of no agreement.
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City, fire district meeting over dispatch fee dispute ends in agreement for another meeting
Costs for dispatching services - whether it's law enforcement, fire or emergency medical services - who pays the costs and how, how to determine who should be paying what and how, and where to go from here was the subject of a lengthy discussion at a joint special meeting of the Douglas Okanogan Fire District No. 15 commissioners and the Brewster City Council Monday, March 2, that ended with the decision to hold another meeting.
It was the first joint meeting of the entire council and the commissioners in a longstanding dispute over dispatch fees; they are parties to an agreement where the district provides emergency medical service response to the city. The agreement lapsed on Dec. 31, and fire district commissioners have notified city officials that the district will cease providing EMS services to the city on March 31 unless there's progress toward a new agreement.
At issue is dispatching costs for fire and EMS services, especially EMS dispatching. Okanogan County Sheriff Frank Rogers explained how the system works now in Okanogan County, and how it's funded. All counties in the state receive funding through a tax on telephone service; in 2008, that generated $536,674 for Okanogan County. But that doesn't pay the cost of the whole service - to make up the balance, county residents pay a tax, and cities in the county are charged a yearly fee for dispatching services for city police departments. Those two sources generated $597,151 in 2008. Fees charged to the cities generated approximately $200,000 to $250,000 of that revenue, Rogers said; he didn't have the exact figure.
But the dispatch center operated by the sheriff's office dispatches fire and ambulance units as well. And whoever actually operates them - say, a fire district like Fire District No. 15 - is not charged a fee for dispatching.
Rogers said the interlocal agreements that govern dispatching services were written in the 1980s and things were different then; at that time, the sheriff's office dispatched law enforcement agencies but rarely if ever handled dispatch services for fire and ambulance units. (Brewster Fire Chief Mike Webster said that in Brewster fire and ambulance units were dispatched through Okanogan Douglas Hospital at the time. That procedure changed in the mid-1990s and now, at least in the Brewster area, all law enforcement, fire and EMS agencies are dispatched through the sheriff's office.)
In answer to a question from Brewster Police Chief Ron Oules, Rogers said there is a cost associated with every call that comes in, whether it's police, fire, ambulance, search and rescue or whatever. Rogers handed out a copy of the interlocal agreement governing dispatch fees. Each city's payment is based on their population as a percentage of the county's total population. Each city's assessment is based on the "actual salary, benefits, teletype, services and operating costs," according to the interlocal agreement.
Council member Dave Freels said city officials have been trying to get district officials to talk about fees for a couple of years. But, said fire commission chair Ike Vallance, it's the understanding of district officials that the city is only paying dispatch fees for law enforcement, not fire or ambulance. Mayor pro tem Bob Fateley said city officials think they are paying at least some of the cost for fire and ambulance dispatch.
Brewster Mayor Lee Webster and council member Art Smyth work for the fire district, so they were not involved in the discussions. Fateley ran the meeting in Lee Webster's absence.
In answer to questions from Oules, Rogers reiterated that there is a cost associated with every call. All of those costs are factored in when determining the dispatch fee assessed to cities, he said. Oules said in that case, in his opinion the city is paying at least part of the cost. Vallance said Rogers told him, when they talked about it, that fire and ambulance services are not charged a dispatch fee, and asked how city officials then contended that they were paying a fire and/or ambulance dispatch fee. Rogers said it is true there is a cost associated with every call, whatever it is. But right now only law enforcement agencies get billed, he said.
Oules said in that case, city officials think a portion of the city's dispatch fees should be paid by the district. But Vallance said in that case, every EMS agency in the county could be charged, and billed.
Rogers said that if the sheriff's department started breaking down costs that way, the probable result would be billing on a per-call basis, by agency. That could lead to increased costs for everybody, he said, and he's not sure anybody - county, cities, or emergency service agencies - wants to go there.
Rogers said he didn't know how to fix it; Fateley said city officials didn't either. He asked if fire district officials would be willing to talk about any kind of adjustment. But Vallance said it's not just a question between the city of Brewster and Douglas Okanogan Fire District No. 15 - the district also provides services to Pateros, as well as to residents of the fire district. All of those agreements have to be consistent, Vallance said.
Brian Snure, the attorney representing the fire district, said district officials don't want to be billed for the same service twice. Oules said he didn't agree they were paying for the service twice. Snure said district officials would want some data proving the city's case. Currently the cities pay (through their law enforcement dispatch fees) about $200,000 to $250,000 of the cost of operating the dispatch center, out of the budget of approximately $1 million. That's about 20 to 25 percent of the total cost, but law enforcement calls make up the majority of calls to the dispatch center, Snure said. In the case where the cities are paying about 20 to 25 percent of the bill but law enforcement generates more than half the traffic, then in the opinion of fire district officials, everything the cities pay in dispatch fees goes to pay for law enforcement dispatch, Snure said.
The EMS agency is part of the fire district, funded in part through a property tax levy paid by residents in the district, Brewster and Pateros; the levy is voted on every six years and was approved in 2008. Both cities and the fire district are required to pass legislation (an ordinance, in the city's case) to have the election, collect the taxes and pass them on. The ordinance approved by the Brewster council in 2008 made participation contingent on a satisfactory agreement between the parties. Fateley said it was his understanding that the levy was required to pass in both cities and the district to become effective - which it did, but Brewster's participation is contingent. He asked what would happen if there is no agreement and Brewster seeks an alternative. Snure said in his opinion it wouldn't invalidate the results in the district because the district's levy proposal didn't include the same language.
Jamie Myxter, who was hired by the city to facilitate the discussion, asked each commissioner and council member what they hoped to get out of the meeting, and both sides said the partnership had always been beneficial to both sides and they wanted it to continue. After about two hours Myxter said it looked like the two sides had reached an impasse and asked if either side was ready to call it quits. That was met with silence, and Myxter asked if either side had ideas that might break the impasse. Snure said he thought the two sides could work through it, if there was some data on who was paying what.
Using approximate numbers for total calls in Brewster in 2008 and the numbers for ambulance calls within the city limits, Oules came up with a very approximate cost that the city would've charged the district in 2008, under $10,000. Mike Webster asked if it was worth upsetting an amicable agreement for less than $10,000, but Vallance said it wasn't necessarily about the money. The fire district has its residents as well as the residents of Pateros to consider as well, and all of those people have to be treated the same. In addition, cities and EMS agencies around the county are watching what's happening in Brewster and what the outcome will be.
He asked Oules how district officials would explain to residents that part of the money district that officials said would be allocated for EMS services was being remitted back to the city for fees that the district, in the opinion of its officials, may not owe. Oules said he thought residents would understand if it was explained.
Peter Fraley, the attorney representing the city, said both sides could try to come up with an itemized bill, but that could be a significant body of work and could take both sides to places they don't want to go. Eventually it may become a business decision, Fraley said, whether the trouble is worth the cost. It might unpalatable, he said, but the fee might be a place to start. The two sides could look at the volume of EMS calls in the city, how the fees are allocated and work from there, he said. Snure said that might be a place to start, if city officials can demonstrate part of the dispatch fee they're paying is not for law enforcement. But, Snure said, there probably wasn't any decision possible at the meeting. In the meantime, district officials would expect reimbursement for their services, he said.
Mike Webster asked if the March 31 deadline could or would be extended. Snure said that would be possible, if district officials knew they would be compensated for services in the meantime. But at the end of the meeting the March 31 deadline would remain in place, he said. Mike Webster asked if both sides were really interested in solving the impasse or if they'd just mark time for three weeks. Snure said he thought there was still room to talk.
Both the council and fire district have regular meetings next week, and both said they would be willing to have another meeting next week to continue discussions.
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