What Happened?
The city of Allen Park, MI, is considering outsourcing its fire department to nearby cities. This makes it one of many—including Pontiac, MI, Ashland, MA, and others—who have consolidated or outsourced fire services to cut costs. Nearby Taylor, MI, recently outsourced its emergency calls to a private contractor, since over 85 percent of the calls were medical related, not fire.
The Data
Allen Park, which has approximately 28,000 residents, spent $11.9 million on police and fire in 2010, up 10 percent from 2009; most of the growth, though, was with the police force.
Mayor to Mayor
The outsourcing consideration was warned in a letter delivered a letter to the fire fighter’s union, stating that since the union hadn’t provided concessions to address the city’s “financial distress,” it was forced to review alternatives. According to The News-Herald, the union actually did proposed some concessions—including 10 percent pay cuts for members—but several conditions were included, including an extension of the parties’ collective bargaining agreement, and an immediate 3 percent retroactive to July 2011.
Apparently, the mayor of Allen Park found the conditions unacceptable, and sent a letter to mayors of several nearby cities, asking them for a meeting to discuss the possibility that their fire departments serve as an outsourced function for Allen Park.
Next Steps
We will continue to cover fire department consolidation and outsourcing. If you’d like to read the original coverage of the Allen Park development, click here.
Gov1 has also tracked down additional resources on this topic that might be helpful. For example, here is a FEMA analysis of an outsourcing recommendation for Mount Prospect, IL; though a decade old the analysis and recommendations are thoughtful and helpful.
Here is an RFP for the outsourcing of fire services in Downer’s Grove, IL, with bids included.
And here is a study on “high-risk” outsourcing, which includes a framework for how to assess risk.
Finally, we urge readers to share with us details on their experiences with the outsourcing or consolidation of fire departments. Simply contact us at editor@efficientgov.com.