In June 1974, Garden Grove voters approved a property tax increase (override) to pay for emergency paramedic services.  The approved ballot measure established a property tax specifically to pay for a “mobile intensive care program” in an amount not to exceed 10 cents per $100 of assessed valuation.  

City Council Resolution No. 4547-74, which authorized the ballot measure, stated the specific purposes for which the property tax was proposed; namely, to provide for (1) an emergency medical care system with a response time of five minutes; (2) to pay salaries; and (3) to purchase and maintain vehicles, radio, telemetry and intensive care equipment, and all necessary supplies.

In June 2012, the City Council set the tax at 7.0 cents ($.070) per one-hundred dollars ($100) of assessed valuation.

Over the years, the cost of providing paramedic services has increased.  In order to maintain and pay for paramedic emergency medical care services, it is necessary to adjust the paramedic tax override to generate sufficient revenue to cover current program costs. Since 2012, the volume of paramediccalls has greatly increased.  Between 2012 and 2016, the Fire Department has averaged 11,848 calls for service per year.  Of those calls, an average of 5,872 were for paramedic level services.  In 2016, calls for service greatly increased to 14,914 of which 10,149 were for medical aid calls, with 6,077 of those calls requiring paramedic level service, representing about 60% of the totalcost.

As the paramedic program expanded to meet the five-minute response standard, the cost to maintain the program also grew.  The current property tax override of 7 cents per $100 of assessed valuation is no longer adequate to cover program costs. Currently, the paramedic program does not meet the five minute response time the majority of the time.  The City’s General Fund has made up the difference between what the property tax override generated and the cost of providing paramedic services. The projected FY 2017-18 cost of providing paramedic services is approximately $9.8 million (See Attachment 1).

An adjustment of an additional 1 cent per $100 of assessed valuation would address the shortfall between program costs and revenue currently collected.  Adjusting the rate to 8 cents will generate approximately $10.18 million annually.  This will fully fund the city’s paramedic program for FY 2017-18 estimated cost of $9.8 million, with the balance (approximately $380 thousand) carried forward to fund FY 2018-19 costs.

It is recommended that the City Council:

• Introduce and conduct the first reading of the attached Ordinance authorizing a property tax override of 8 cents per $100 of assessed value beginning with the Fiscal Year 2017-18 paramedic program.

Attachment 1:  Paramedic Program Cost Analysis

Attachment 2:  Ordinance