Agenda - Council - 08/13/2013 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Ramsey, Nowthen, St. Francis, Oak Grove, and Bethel, Minnesota Feasibility Study for Shared or Cooperative Fire and Emergency Services Consider: Partnering agencies need to assure that provision for rate adjustment is included in the agreement, including inflation. The agreement should address the issue of full cost versus marginal cost. The inclusion or non -inclusion of administrative and/or overhead cost also requires statement, as does the reconciliation of in -kind service exchange. The ownership and/or depreciation of capital assets should be addressed, as should rent, utilities, and liability insurance. In the case of a fixed fee, the agreement should establish how the participation of other public agencies in the partnership would affect cost. Population Concept: Payment for service can be based on the proportion of residential population to a given service area. The most recently available census population of the City of Ramsey is listed as 23,668; the City of Nowthen at 4,443; St. Francis, 7,218; Oak Grove, 8,031; and Bethel, 466. The population of the entire covered service area is estimated at about 43, 826. Apportionment based on the estimated population of the service area would allocate about 54 percent of cost to the City of Ramsey; 10.1 percent to the City of Nowthen, 16.5 percent to the City of St. Francis, 18.3 percent to Oak Grave and 1.1 percent to the City of Bethel. Pro: Residential population is frequently used by governmental agencies to measure and evaluate programs. The U.S. Bureau of Census maintains an easily accessible database of the population and demographics of cities, counties, and states. Estimates of population are updated regularly. Laypersons intuitively equate residential population to the workload of fire departments. Con: The accurate population of partially covered areas is often difficult to establish. Census tract boundaries and response area boundaries infrequently match, forcing extrapolated estimates, which can fail to take into account pockets of concentrated population inside or outside of the response areas. Further, residential population does not include the daily and seasonal movement of a transient population caused by commerce, industry, transport, and recreation. Depending on the local situation, the transients coming in (or going out) of an area can be very significant, which can tend to skew community risk. Residential population does not statistically link with emergency page 92 *,:;,Eniecgestcy Services Consufang fJ