Cave Creek to revisit fire protection options

Rural/Metro District Fire Chief John Kraetz

By Linda Bentley

    CAVE CREEK – At the behest of Rancho Manana residents, Cave Creek held a workshop Monday evening to present the town’s current arrangement for fire protection and other available options.
    Rural/Metro District Fire Chief John Kraetz explained the current subscription service arrangement, which has served the community for about 40 years, along with five other options available to the town.
    Mayor Vincent Francia said there would be an agenda item on the May 19 council meeting, calling for a citizens’ fire committee to review the six options, the associated costs, and present their findings to the community during a subsequent meeting.
    Basically, under the current subscription arrangement, property owners voluntarily enroll with Rural/Metro.
    What some Rancho Manana residents wanted to know was whose responsibility it is to inform property owners about that need to enroll, although one resident stated his insurance company would not provide coverage until he did.
    Ordinarily, real estate agents would be the ones to inform their clients about the need to enroll. However, Kraetz said it was ultimately Rural/Metro’s responsibility.
    Because they get their information from the tax assessor’s records, which are not always current, Kraetz said Rural/Metro sometimes ends up notifying people who no longer own the property.
    He said 50.97 percent of the property owners are subscribed and are essentially funding the fire department for the entire community.
    Kraetz provided a schedule of subscription fees, which Rural/Metro bases on the square footage of all the buildings on a given property, and showed what the approximate fees would be if the entire community subscribed.
    Surprisingly, 100 percent subscription only resulted in an estimated 10 percent reduction in fees.
    When someone asked if they considered vacant land in determining what percentage of property owners subscribed, Kraetz said they did.
    That led to the next question. If subscription fees are based on square footage, how does Rural/Metro calculate the fee for vacant land?
    Rural/Metro Fire Chief Chris Pendleton said Rural/Metro has another rate and methodology for calculating vacant land and said it was quite nominal, whereas an acre lot would run about $50 per year.
    That explained the minimal reduction in rates, even if Rural/Metro gained 100 percent enrollment.
    Other options presented by Kraetz included forming a municipal fire department, which he said would open up grant possibilities, give the town direct control and would allow the town to become part of the auto aid system with adjacent municipalities.
    However, some of those pros were also on the con list. Direct control would mean the town would have to manage the fire department, the costs associated with starting a fire department would run in excess of $6 million in its first year, it would place additional operating liabilities on the town along with adding more employees to the payroll.
    Another option would be to annex into an existing fire district. Kreatz said the only viable district Cave Creek could join is Daisy Mountain Fire District.
    Daisy Mountain levies a tax based on the property’s assessed valuation, which then shows up under secondary taxes on the annual property tax bill.
    Daisy Mountain bases its tax levy on valuation, with different rates for residential and commercial.
    For example, a residential property assessed at $500,000 would be taxed $989 per year. A commercial property assessed at the same value would be taxed $2,176.
    Under Rural/Metro’s rate structure, 2,600 to 3,199 square feet would cost $555 and buildings 3,700 square feet and over would cost $0.209 per square foot.
    As part of a fire district, costs could go up or down depending on the district’s annual budget, which would be decided by the district’s elected board of directors.
    Another possible option would be to contract with the Phoenix Fire Department. However, Kraetz said he’s not sure Phoenix would be interested, it would probably be costly and the station would be farther away.
    Forming a new fire district was another option, although Kraetz said it would probably require an increase in the tax levy to the maximum allowed by statute ($3.25) for the first few years to fund the infrastructure and equipment costs, which would cost about $1,625 per year for a $500,000 home.
    The last option presented was a master contract such as Carefree has entered into with Rural/ Metro. The tax rate would be set by budget (approximately $0.82) at $1,500,000.
    It could be paid for by the tax of choice, either a property tax or sales tax.
    Carefree pays for its fire service contract with sales tax.
    Under a master contract, service for a $500,000 home would cost about $410.
    The master contract option also allows the town to apply for grants to offset costs or to purchase new equipment.
    Kraetz mentioned Daisy Mountain has made presentations to the town on three separate occasions, which Daisy Mountain Chief Tom Healy acknowledged.
    Vice Mayor Gilbert Lopez mentioned if fire protection is paid as a tax it is then tax deductible.
    More detailed information will become available after the citizens’ committee researches each of the options in more depth.