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MO-_41vivns VmV __ City of Mounds View Staff R Item No: 02 Meeting Date: March 2, 2020 Type of Business: WS Administrator Review: To: Honorable Mayor and City Council From: Nyle Zikmund, City Administrator Item Title/Subject: SBM FD, Contract, JPA Introduction: Mounds View has contractually received fire protection services from the Spring Lake Park Fire Department Inc. (commonly referred to as SBM FD or the Spring Lake Park — Blaine — Mounds View Fire Department) since 1949 and likely back to 1944 when they first formed. In 1990, the cities of Blaine, Spring Lake Park and Mounds View formed a Joint Powers Agreement, initiated by the need to make significant investments in stations and apparatus, subsequently resulting in a decision to sell bonds. The bond sale and subsequent improvements resulted in a new contract with several major changes and the Joint Powers Agreement. Via the contract, fiscal control of the fire department was transferred to the cities in accordance with the JPA. An administrative panel was created with the three top executives of the cities quarterly reviewing the budget and controlling any surplus. The contract also embed a formula for contract cost sharing that is established in the JPA. The formula embedded in the JPA for cost sharing calculates 50% on market share and 50% on call volume averaged over a three year period. When first adopted in 1990, the formula shares were: Blaine — 64.36% Mounds View — 22.08% Spring Lake Park — 13.56% For 2020 budget year the formula shares are: Blaine — 76.093% Mounds View — 15.998% Spring Lake Park — 7.963% Discussion: Since its adoption, two minor adjustments were made via MOU's, one was to carry the formula out to three decimal points and the other was to clarify that storm related calls; especially summer storms in which 20 to 30 calls (downed power lines) shall be counted as one call for formula purposes. The City of Blaine proposed, at a JPA meeting last fall; that we consider a fixed formula. Reasons articulated included: Inconsistencies between Anoka County and Ramsey County in assessed valuations. Concern that if Blaine share were to rise to some portion above 80% or more, abandonment of the model could occur. Formula does not adequately recognize, especially when disparity is considered — the base cost of fire protection. In explanation, should no fire calls be received in the course of a year, the fire department budget would still exceed several million as the ability to respond requires stations and apparatus and well trained, property equipped firefighters.