In June 1974, Garden Grove voters approved a property tax increase (override) to pay for emergency paramedic services in an amount not  to exceed 10 cents per $100 of assessed valuation.    This assessment was approved by over 60 percent of the voters in 1974, and has been used for the past 40 years.  City Ordinance No. 2859 allows the City Council to approve up to 10 cents per $100 of property value to be assessed for the specific use of providing paramedic service to the community. This assessment can be used for salaries, training and purchasing of equipment and requires an emergency response time benchmark of five minutes.  The paramedic override tax rate is currently set at 7 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, and projected to yield approximately $8.8 million in Fiscal Year 2016/17.  The entire proceeds are used by the City to fund and run the paramedic program.

On August 9, 2016, a Fire Department Deployment Report (Report) was considered and accepted by the City Council. The Report proposed increasing paramedic staffing by an additional three Paramedics to coincide with the completion of the new Fire Station 6.  Data was provided noting improved citywide paramedic response time from the current six minutes at only 38 percent of the fractal time.  The City Council accepted the Report and approved a future consideration as recommended that included: requisition of three additional firefighter/paramedics; analysis of the cost implications; and any required increase to the paramedic override tax rate for City Council consideration as part of the 2017/2018 budget.

The Garden Grove Fire Department is made up of 92 sworn, five full time and one part time civilian personnel.  In 2015, the Department responded to 14,627 calls, and in 2016, calls increased to 14,914 calls.  The Fire Department call volume has increased by over 20 percent over the past five years with the majority being medical emergencies.  This increase continues to directly impact the Department's ability to provide paramedic service citywide within the five minute time requirement, which is a performance benchmark in the current City Ordinance.    Currently, there are three *full time paramedic units, and **four paramedic assessment units.  This deployment plan has not been adjusted to respond to the growing number of calls for service since 1985.  Additional firefighter paramedics would improve citywide response time by 10 percent or 30 seconds.

*Paramedic Assessment Unit (1 paramedic): Stabilize the medical situation until a full paramedic unit arrives to provide Advance Life Support transport to the hospital.

**Full Paramedic Unit (2 paramedics):  Provide advance medical treatment and transportation to the hospital.

The initial cost of hiring three new paramedics is based on the 2017/2018 adopted budget cost of $605,235.  This cost, as well as the unfunded liability cost of the paramedic program, will continue to grow, and there is a need to modestly increase the paramedic override tax.  The paramedic override tax rate, which is unchanged from the prior year, is currently set at 7 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. This equates to approximately a $378 annual tax bill for a median value of a single-family residence in Garden Grove of $540,000.  As currently set, it is projected to generate approximately a total revenue of $8.8 million in Fiscal Year 2016/2017 to cover the paramedic program expenditures.  However, given the increasing cost of running the paramedic program, as well as the add-on cost of public safety unfunded liability over the next five years, a sequential rate adjustment would be necessary in both Fiscal Years 2017/2018 and in 2019/2020.  With these increases anticipated over the next couple of years, the City Manager deems it appropriate to defer the consideration of adding the three new paramedics until some time after the new Fire Station 6 is completed, and it is feasible to do so within the existing financial paradigm.

The adopted Fiscal Year 2016/17 paramedic tax rate is set at 7 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, or $378 annual tax bill for a median value of a single-family residence in Garden Grove of $540,000, and is estimated to yield approximately $8.8 million dollars.  As part of the budget process, staff will present to the City Council recommendations regarding paramedic tax rate adjustments necessary to sustain current paramedic operations and service including the associated unfunded liability costs.

The City Administration recommends that the City Council:

• Defer consideration of adding the new paramedics until it is feasible to do so within the existing paramedic tax and program financial construct.

• If appropriate, a staffing proposal may be presented to City Council in Fiscal Year 2018/2019 or thereafter.

• Approve and file this report.