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ADOPT A RESOLUTION IDENTIFYING TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR FIRE DEPARTMENT ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPRESSION PERSONNEL COMPENSATION FOR PROVIDING RESPONSE TO THE CALIFORNIA OFFICE OF EMERGENCY SERVICES INCIDENTS AWAY FROM THEIR OFFICIAL DUTY STATION OUTSIDE OF THE CITY OF STOCKTON
recommended action
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the City Council approve and adopt a resolution to add Administrative Fire Battalion Chief, Administrative Fire Captain, Administrative Fire Fighter Engineer, and Administrative Fire Fighter to the current list of approved Fire Department personnel classification titles assigned to mutual aid incident response to the California Office of Emergency Services away from the official duty station outside the City of Stockton and San Joaquin County.
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Summary
The City of Stockton Fire Department adheres to the California Fire Assistance Agreement (CFAA) for reimbursement of out-of-county mutual aid responses. The Fire Department is reimbursed entirely by the State of California for responding to requests for mutual aid throughout California. The current CFAA establishes the requirements to ensure adequate reimbursement for mutual aid responses. Adoption of this resolution is necessary to maintain compliance with the CFAA and to ensure that the City receives compensation for actual hours worked from the time of departure, through time returned to their officially assigned duty station for suppression personnel assigned to administrative duties who provide mutual aid to the State. The elected bodies of all California fire agencies that participate in out-of-county mutual aid are compelled to adopt resolutions in order to ensure proper payment.
DISCUSSION
Background
The State of California Office of Emergency Services (OES) serves as the broker between local government fire departments and the requesting State and Federal agencies for mutual aid responses. Financial reimbursement for the local government fire department’s mutual aid responses is set forth in the 2020 CFAA. The CFAA requires participating fire departments to have a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on file internally that describes the wages and benefits of all employee classifications that will respond to a mutual aid incident. The City of Stockton Fire Department has an MOU on file for its respective labor groups.
Additionally, the Agency is required to have a resolution on file that states that Fire Department personnel are paid for all hours, commonly referred to as portal-to-portal, and that our reimbursement procedures are in accordance with the CFAA. Resolution 2015-05-19-1213 was passed, approved, and adopted on May 19, 2015 to address portal-to-portal reimbursements. Adoption of this resolution will ensure our ability to recover costs for administrative suppression salaries related to mutual aid responses.
Present Situation
The State of California Fire Department, known as Cal Fire, and the United States Forest Service, depend on local government resources to assist with large-scale wildland fires. Additionally, as California’s growing population expands into the wildland areas, urban interface fire activity is expected to increase in frequency and severity.
The City of Stockton Fire Department is a signatory contractor for OES. OES has assigned a Fire Engine and a medium rated Urban Search and Rescue trailer to the City in the event of a major incident, that overwhelms local resources. City of Stockton Fire Department personnel are trained to respond to these types of emergencies, statewide. OES allows the Fire Department to utilize this equipment within the City when conducting drills, or during an emergency, both of which are great resources and provide an additional service to our community.
The Stockton Fire Department is compensated for OES responses away from our normal duty station, from the time of departure, until our arrival back at our regularly assigned duty station. This practice is known as portal-to-portal compensation. This entire cost is reimbursed by OES under the CFAA. The incorporation of the administrative classifications into the list of approved Fire Department personnel classification titles will ensure the City is appropriately reimbursed for all costs incurred for participating in a mutual aid response.
The passage of the proposed resolution provides the required documentation by the CFAA to ensure the City of Stockton Fire Department is properly reimbursed portal-to-portal for administrative suppression personnel.
FINANCIAL SUMMARY
This resolution, if approved and adopted, will satisfy the terms and conditions of the 2020 California Fire Assistance Agreement (CFAA) for the addition of the Administrative Fire Battalion Chief, Administrative Fire Captain, Administrative Fire Fighter Engineer, and Administrative Fire Fighter classifications. Compensation associated to the CFAA for out-of-county mutual aid responses are credited to State Reimbursements account 4020-000-430102/430202-100-000-20-40-000-000-.