LA WATCHDOG-As a matter of public safety, the Los Angeles Fire Department wants to restore its staffing and service delivery capabilities to the prerecession levels of 2008. At the same time, it wants to improve its response and dispatch times through the use of technology and global positioning systems and organizational changes in its dispatch and 911 operations.
More than likely, any plan will also include the purchase of new emergency medical and firefighting equipment.
On Wednesday, the members of the City Council were enthusiastic about these goals, no doubt encouraged by the presence of Fire Chief Featherstone, Frank Lima, the politically powerful President of the Department’s union, the United Firefighters of Los Angeles City, and a slew of vocal firefighters in the Council chambers.
While Paul Krekorian, the Chair of the City Council’s Budget and Finance Committee, said the LAFD was his first priority, there was no discussion of the cost of adding 360 new firefighters, the expenses related to new technology and organizational changes, or the impact on the City’s projected budget deficit of $250 million.
However, the estimated first year cost of hiring new recruits and the implementation of the new FIRESTAT LA program will be in the range of $20 to $25 million. This, along with the $30 million associated with the phase out of the Gross Receipts Business Tax, will increase the City’s budget deficit to over $300 million.
Unfortunately for the next generation of Angelenos, this $300 million deficit is understated by $400 million as the City continues to shortchange it massively underfunded pension plans by relying on an overly aggressive investment rate assumption and unrealistic mortality tables.
Within four years, the total annual cost of this initiative is expected to be in the range of $60 to $80 million, resulting in a cumulative deficit over the next four years of around $1 billion. This includes the multiyear cost of the phase out of the Gross Receipts Business Tax.
To help fund the Fire Department’s increase in service capabilities, the City Council, the Department, the campaign funding union, and the Grand Jury called for the restoration of the $76 million in lost funding that occurred as a result of the City’s cash crunch. However, over the last two years, 90% of this lost funding has been restored.
However, despite this recent increase in funding, the Department’s head count is still off by 10% from its 2008 peak. But it is unable to afford to replace the lost firefighters since the average fully loaded compensation package has increased by 26% to $218,000 for each of its remaining 3,537 positions.
As part of the budget process, the voters need to have a better understanding of the Fire Department’s overall efficiency and response time relative to other similar operations in California. We also need to review the Department’s long anticipated five year strategic and financial plan to restore fire and medical services to acceptable levels that is now being prepared by PA Consulting, a well-regarded firm as a result of its frank and unbiased work for our Department of Water and Power.
We also need to review and analyze the terms of the new Memorandum of Understanding between the Fire Department and the United Firefighters of Los Angeles. This would include not only compensation arrangements, but work rules and staffing levels, including those related to the Department’s dispatch and 911 operations. It would also include a ten year history of the UFLAC’s campaign contributions.
The Fire Department also needs to earn our trust, especially after The Los Angeles Times exposed its lies about its emergency response times. This will require full and complete disclosure of its operations, finances, capital expenditures, and its compensation arrangements.
Of course, the $300 million question is: How do Eric and the City Council intend to balance the ever growing budget deficit? Or if you take the long term view, the $1,000,000,000 question.
Mayor Garcetti has established a “Back to Basics” policy, prioritizing the creation of good jobs, the restoration of core City services, public safety, and environmental sustainability. But if the City is unable to control its labor costs, eliminate the Structural Deficit, and Live Within Its Means, all bets are off.
(Jack Humphreville writes LA Watchdog for CityWatch. He is the President of the DWP Advocacy Committee, The Ratepayer Advocate for the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council, and a Neighborhood Council Budget Advocate. Humphreville is the publisher of the Recycler Classifieds -- www.recycler.com. He can be reached at: [email protected]. Hear Jack every Tuesday morning at 6:20 on McIntyre in the Morning, KABC Radio 790.)
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 12 Issue 12
Pub: Feb 11, 2014
