MERCED FIRE
DEPARTMENT
Master Fee Schedule Update
MF D Master Fee Schedule
Update
History of MF D Cost
Recovery
Current Issues
Outreach Efforts
Sta ff Recommendations
Statistics for Growth of City of Merced
Yea r Populatio
n
Square
Miles
Stations
on Duty
Call
Vol ume
Calls per
Day
Staffing Staffing
per
Resident
1984 43,000 15 4 392 1.1 53 811.3
2006 70,000 20 5 4,533 12.4 86 709.3
2023 90,494 23.25 5 12,000 32.8 68 1,330.8
2030
Projection
102,9521 35 7 16,000 43.8 140 735.4
1. Merced County Forecast Summary, University of the Pacific, Eberhardt School of Business, Center for Business and History of
Cost
Recovery
1998 Council Direction
• Updates began in 2013
• Brought back to council in 2016
• Council adopted NBS Fee Study
Cost Recovery
• Fire Prevention Fees
• Occupancy T ypes
• Operational Permits
• Vehicle Accidents
• Weed Abatement
EMS First Responder Fee
• First Responder Fee has been collected since early 2000s • Collected at same rate since inception, $125
• Report from consultant was brought to council in 2022 Current Issues
Why is this so important? Fire
Prevention
Fire Prevention has been a staple of the Merced Fire
Department service to the citizens and businesses of
Merced since paid organization in 1949
Fees have not been adjusted since 2016 adoption
Costs have outpaced the ability to provide excellent
service
Fire suppression crews are too busy and call volumes
will only increase; new staffing needed
Expansion of Fire Prevention Bureau is needed to
keep pace with city growth
Current Issues
Why is this so important? EMS
January – March 2023 saw record low compliance in
ambulance response times
1,580 High Call Density late ambulance responses
in a 3-month period (10:59 response time
requirement)
Fire engines and police cars are transporting patients
(Los Banos Fire and PD)
Patients and families are being directed to drive their own vehicles (Daily occurrence)
Outreach
• Met with community
groups
• Met with business
groups
• Radio spots
• Utility bill inserts
Utilizing CPI
The Consumer P rice Index (CP I-U) is a measure of the average change in prices over time in a fixed market basket of goods and services.
In short, it measures inflation.
In April-May of 2023, the Consumer P rice Index for all urban consumers increased 0.4 percent, and the total within the last 12 months is at 5.5 percent.
Effects on F ire P revention, alone: increased costs from fuel to the office lease, and from sta ffing to our records-management system (subsc ription for proc essing inspections)
Breakdown of
occupancy fees:
- “ Tiers” would now be provided for R-1, F,
H, a nd M occupa ncies
- Examples fo r R-1 occupa ncy fees ba s ed
on siz e:
- 1 and 2 story
- 3 and greater
Breakdown of occupancy fees:
- “ Tiers” would now be provided for R-1, F, H, and
M occupa ncies
- Examples for M occupancy fees based on size:
Target—around 95K sq. ft. @ $312
US Foods Chef Store—around 14500 sq. ft. @ $234
Small Clothing Store—4200 sq. ft. @ $156
*current fee for M occupancies @ $195
Breakdown of EMS
fees:
• Fees established for both T RA N S P O RTand NON-
T RA N S P O RT
• EMS Transport Fees
• Established based upon approved Merced County
EMS Agency fees from 2019 application to the
Merced County EMS Agency Request for P roposal
for ALS Tra nsport Services
• F irst Responder Fee
• Treat/ No Tra ns port F ee
Compassion Fee Waiver Policy
Draft policy awaiting fee adoption Similar policy in many public safety agencies
Utilizes United States Department of
Health and Human Services poverty
guidelines which are updated annually
Staff Recommendations
Master Fee Schedule
•Update fees utilizing CPI calculation from 2017 to
2022
•Addition of CPI annually to mirror Building
Department
•Addition of “B” occupancy triannual business
inspections
•Addition of “R-1” occupancy cost recovery
•Tiered approach to “F”, “H”, “M”, and “R-1”
occupancies based upon business square footage or
floor levels in R-1
Fire Prevention
Staff Recommendations
Master Fee Schedule
• ALS Transport Fee
• Emergency and Non-Emergency
• BLS Transport Fee
• Emergency and Non-Emergency
• Critical Care Transport Fee
• Mileage Fee
• Night Call Fee
• Oxygen Fee
• First Responder Fee
• Treat/No-Transport Fee
• Direction to return with adoption of Compassion Fee Waiver Policy
Emergency Medical Services
Questions?