Fort public safety referendum introduced

By Chris Spangler

The Fort Atkinson City Council on Tuesday got its first glimpse of the potential wording and tax impact of a proposed public safety referendum slated for the April 5^th election ballot.

In September 2021, the council unanimously decided to not renew its contract with Ryan Brothers Ambulance Service and instead voted to initiate a referendum seeking funds to add employees and equipment at the fire department and boost the police force by two sworn officers.

During the council’s first meeting of 2022 on Tuesday, City Manager Rebecca Houseman LeMire outlined the proposal in a PowerPoint presentation. On hand to answer questions were Fire Chief Daryl Rausch and Police Chief Adrian Bump.

LeMire reported that the increasing number of calls for service and outdated staffing structures are the primary drivers in the need for the public safety changes.

“Despite the increasing need for emergency services, current funding sources are stagnant or decreasing and our existing staffing levels inhibit our ability to adequately respond to calls for service,” she told the council.

She reported that the police department has 20 officers. Staffing levels have been nearly stagnant for two decades, despite a sharp increase in the demand for officer time. 

“In a more ideal scenario, 60% of officer time would be dedicated to responding to calls, while 40% of their time would be addressing community challenges and maintaining availability for serious emergencies,” the city manager explained. “This is known as the ‘Rule of 60.’”

However, LeMire said, in 2021, Fort Atkinson patrol officers spent 78% of their time responding to calls and 22 percent of their time on more proactive policing measures.

She said that the police department just experienced one of its busiest years on record, responding to nearly 3,000 or 26% more calls in 2021 than it did in 2020. 

“Not only are the number of calls increasing, but there has been a change in the types of crimes that the police department responds to,” the city manager said. “These more complex issues include sexual assault, domestic violence, alcohol- and drug-related issues and mental health crises.”

She noted that while some calls can be responded to promptly and handled in 10 minutes or less, more complex issues might take between six and 18 hours to manage.

“The takeaway is clear: Current staffing levels are far too low for officers to be able to provide sufficient proactive policing services to our community,” LeMire said.

The fire department, meanwhile, has one full-time chief and three full-time division chiefs, with the rest of the staff being 41 part-time volunteer paid-on-call firefighters.

“When you call 911 because your house in on fire, there are not staff in the fire station ready to respond right away,” LeMire said. “When a call comes in, part-time volunteer staff must first leave their homes and their jobs or their beds to come to the fire station before responding to a call.

“While this model worked in decades past when call volumes were lower, it is simply unsustainable to rely so heavily on part-time volunteer staff, given the growing current and anticipated future demand for timely fire and EMS responses,” she added.

In 2021, the fire department responded to more than 500 incidents for the first time ever, representing a 108% increase in calls for service since 2010.

“This increase in calls has decreased the number of volunteer staff willing and available to serve our community,” LeMire told the council. “Volunteers are strained by having to leave their regular employment or family functions to respond to emergencies, and many simply cannot.”

Since the mid-1970s, the Fort Atkinson community has nearly doubled the number of annual calls for service from the fire department, she said. “However, the department has had a stagnant professional staffing and a decrease in the pool of part-time volunteer staff able to respond.”

She noted that weekday calls can be difficult to respond to due to work and family commitments.

“In 2020, 70% of calls came in during the work week and 71% of calls were logged between the hours of 6 a.m. and 4 p.m.,” she reported.

Professional EMS and fire staffing on site at the fire station during their shifts would lower response times, LeMire stated.

“Currently on average, it takes seven minutes for volunteers to get from the place of their employment or homes to the fire station after a call comes in,” she said, adding that this is known as the rollout time. “Then it takes an additional four to five minutes to get to the call location in the city.”

Adding professional, full-timers would reduce the rollout time to 90 seconds, she said.

The fire department staff would be cross-trained to respond to both fire and emergency medical calls.

“At present, our critically urgent issue lies on the fire side of the fire department. We cannot continue as a volunteer-reliant department,” LeMire said. “Just adding full-time fire staff would not work. Instead, bolstering our fire staff with professional staff cross-trained in EMS is the most sustainable option to protect the long-term future of our community by ensuring we don’t lose the ability to respond to fire emergencies.

“That cross-trained staff, operating out an in-house service rather than relying on a contracted third party, will generate revenue to help enable and sustain the fire service by reducing our reliance on burnt-out volunteers, and will ensure improved and increased services to the Fort Atkinson community,” LeMire continued.

Currently, the Fort Atkinson community logs 1,250 ambulance responses annually; however, only one dedicated ambulance is available per day in Fort Atkinson, she noted.

EMS provided by the Fort Atkinson Fire Department would have double the ability to respond to 911 calls. In-house services also mean better quality of care for patients in Fort Atkinson, LeMire told the council, listing rate-controlled costs, the ability to meet patient needs and decreased costs for patients.

LeMire said that third-party services are influenced by their need to meet the bottom line and are only reimbursed if the patient is transported to the hospital. 

“In-house EMS providers have more freedom to meet the needs of patients versus focusing on profits,” she said. “Being cared for by Fort Atkinson Fire Department paramedics or EMTs would decrease the costs to patients.”

LeMire said that the city must go to referendum to provide these staffing boosts because there are no other funding sources available.

“Funding with existing resources would mean reducing other city departmental budgets,” she said. “This would both be insufficient to meet public safety needs and significantly impact other city services.”

Thus, the referendum is the only feasible long-term revenue source available to fund the hiring of six full-time firefighter/paramedics, six full-time firefighter/Advanced EMTs and two police officers, she said. 

Referendum question

The wording of the referendum question, in a structure required by state law, is proposed as follows: 

“Under state law, the increase in the levy of the City of Fort Atkinson for the tax to be imposed for the next fiscal year, 2023, is limited to 0.349%, which results in a levy of $7,871,614. Shall the City of Fort Atkinson be allowed to exceed this limit and increase the levy for the next fiscal year, 2023, for the purpose of hiring six (6) full-time firefighter/advanced emergency medical technicians, six (6) full-time firefighter/paramedics, and two (2) police officers, by a total of 9.774%, which results in a levy of $8,640,949, and on an ongoing basis, include the increase of $769,335 for each fiscal year going forward?”

A “yes” vote would mean that an elector is in favor of additional taxation for the public safety staffing through an ongoing increase in the annual property tax levy. A “no” vote would mean he or she is not. 

The city manager said that if the referendum fails, there likely would be delayed fire and EMS response times and an inability to respond to calls, cuts to service and an inability to sufficiently provide police patrol of the city.

“A rejection of the referendum would not be the equivalent of maintaining the status quo for emergency services,” LeMire said. “Public safety staff are facing burnout due to the high-stress nature of the current demand being placed on them. Without additional support, it is likely that numerous existing staff members might opt to retire early or seek employment elsewhere, and Fort Atkinson residents would face lower-quality emergency services as a result.”

At the same time, volunteers might find it is not worth their time or effort to respond to more than 500 calls per year, she said.

Tax impact

The proposal’s pricetag includes about $500,000 in start-up costs for the public safety changes, as well as the annual operating cost of hiring the police and fire department staff, including annual equipment and supplies. 

The Fort Atkinson Community Foundation has pledged $273,390 toward the project. That includes $23,390 for half of the cost of hiring a referendum consultant and up to $250,000 to cover half of the start-up costs of the new municipal EMS.

The property tax impact of an approved referendum would amount to an overall $769,335 total levy increase starting with the December 2022 tax bills. The proposed tax rate would be $0.8222 per $1,000 assessed property value. 

For a house assessed at $100,000, that would amount to $82.22 for the year or $1.58 per week. A property assessed at $150,000 would pay $123.33 per $1,000 assessed valuation for the year or $2.37 per week.

LeMire said approval of placing the referendum on the April ballot will be on Jan. 18 council meeting agenda.

Questions and answers

Responding to questions by the council, Chief Bump cited some examples of proactive policing.

“Since I came to Fort Atkinson, one of the goals was for us to become very well known in the community by our citizens and those we serve,” he said. “We’re doing everything we can to ensure people know who their police officers are, that they’re approachable and they’re seen as citizens that stand shoulder to shoulder with those they serve.”

Among officers’ proactive activities are DARE, daily walk-throughs of all the schools, foot patrols, stops at ballgames in parks, and training employees at schools and businesses in “Run, Hide, Fight.”

“We also do a lot of calls that aren’t necessary, but are convenient and provide value to our community,” Bump said, mentioning helping motorists who lock their keys in their cars.

He added that he plans to resurrect the Explorer cadet program, which will be run by two off-duty officers volunteering their time.

Chief Rausch also answered questions about the fire department’s needs and concerns about changing from Ryan Ambulance Service to an in-house service.

“To be clear, the level of service we’re proposing is the same as Ryan Brothers provides today, as far as the certification level,” Rausch said. “What we will do a bit different is we will have two ambulances dedicated to 911 in this community.”

He cited Tuesday as an example. The fire department assisted with a burn incident and Ryan Brothers transported the patient to the hospital. Its other ambulance was busy with transferring a patient to a Madison hospital and then had another transfer scheduled for after that.

However, within minutes, the fire department responded to another medical call and then got a call for transporting a COVID-19 patient to Madison. 

“Because of the staffing issues and unavailability of ambulances, we ended up pulling Jefferson EMS down for one of those calls, and we pulled Milton EMS up for another call. And while Jefferson was here on our call, they received a call in their city and they had to call Lake Mills to cover that one,” Rausch told the council. “Milton had the Janesville Fire Department covering their community while they were up here helping us, so this is a cascading problem with EMS, and it’s only going to get worst.”

He continued: “Having two dedicated 911 units will make us very self-sufficient in responding to the calls that we have. We are never going to be able to staff for a day like today, because at one point, we needed five ambulances working from the city. But that’s where our mutual-aid partners will kick in, to provide that overflow, much like they did today.”

When the second in-house ambulance unit is not busy, it will cross-staff to provide immediate fire response, he pointed out.

“We’re still going to be primarily a volunteer department … although having the full-time staff will provide about a 200-call-per year decrease in the volunteers’ response,” the chief said.

He noted that fire calls have risen from 356 annually when he arrived in Fort Atkinson about five years ago to 537 in 2021.

“I think some people might think we’re asking for something that is excessive, but I can guarantee you that we’re not,” the chief said. “My worry as a fire chief is that this system is teetering on failure, and once the system is broken and the volunteers walk away, it’s going to be very hard to fix that system at that point. So we need to be proactive and find a solution now.”

To be fair, he said, when Ryan Brothers rigs are available, “they are timely and they provide an adequate level of care. 

“The problem is that when they’re not available, we have to wait for that longer response from Jefferson or Milton or some cases even farther away … those time delays have a potential to create an issue,” Rausch said. “I think that having two dedicated ambulances here supported by the volunteer staff that we have now provides a much better chance for lifesaving interventions and a better outcome for the patients, and that’s on virtually every call that we’re on.”

He said that even a few minutes can make the difference between a stove fire becoming a kitchen fire or even a complete structure fire. 

Rausch also noted that statewide, the fire and EMS departments that are struggling essentially are volunteer departments. Those with full-time career firefighters usually have pensions and other benefits that make the job attractive.

However, EMS traditionally pays less money without pensions and personnel are more transit. Rausch said that in a municipal service, EMTs are pretty stable and tend to stay.

“We’re looking at training up our home-grown firefighters so we’re not hiring strangers to come in and protect our community,” Rausch said. “Most of the people we will look at hiring are longtime members of the department. A lot of them are born and raised here and really have no desire to go anywhere else. I think that’s a real plus for us.”

As reported by Fort Atkinson Online in September during a city council meeting, the following was shared. 

Looking at the trajectory of increasing calls for service, Rausch said, in 1974, the department responded to 124 calls for service. In 2020, that number had increased to 455. He projected that by the end of 2021, the department will have responded to 537 calls. 

Looking at calls annually between 1977 and 2020, Rausch produced a bar chart showing a nearly steady increase in calls since 1992, when calls were at a low of 151. From that point on, they have risen incrementally to the numbers being experienced today, he said.  

“Requests for fire, rescue and EMS services are growing 9-12% each year,” Rausch said. 

Looking at EMS services, Rausch said the city has been provided with emergency medical services by Ryan Brothers Ambulance Service since 2002. In 2021, the cost of the contract is $103,000. 

“The contract provides 1.3 ambulances per day in Fort Atkinson,” a slide in the presentation stated. 

Among the 41 paid-on-call volunteers, Rausch said, 17 are trained emergency medical technicians (EMTs), five are emergency medical responders (EMRs) who provide care to patients while waiting for EMTs to arrive, and three are paramedics. 

Volunteers have told Rausch, he said, that the stress related to the number of calls and the complexity and frequency of training have caused them to leave the department. The department faces continual turnover of between five and seven members each year. 

Rausch said area employers are supportive of the fire department, and want to allow their employees who serve as firefighters to leave to respond to calls, but changes in their staffing and the number of calls received make it difficult for them to let their employees leave. 

To help alleviate the stress and burnout, Rausch said, there is a need to provide the department with more career staff support. 

Looking more closely at the department’s relationship with Ryan Brothers, Rausch said the company dedicates one ambulance to Fort Atkinson. A second ambulance unit is available if it is not engaged in inter-facility transports in other communities. 

In 2017, Rausch said, a fundraising campaign allowed the fire department to purchase an ambulance. Before 2017, if the Ryan Brothers ambulances were busy, Fort Atkinson Fire Department rescue personnel provided on-scene care while an ambulance from another community responded. The wait could take up to 30 minutes, he said. 

Would money become available, Rausch outlined a new operation model which included the addition of six firefighter/paramedics and six firefighter/EMTs. These new full-time positions could handle up to 95% of EMS calls and half of the department’s fire-related calls, he said. It would reduce the reliance on the department’s volunteer members by at least 200 calls per year, he added. 

Rausch recommended that the department hire the new staff from the department’s current members and provide them with additional training. 

Startup costs for the new model would include approximately $250,000 for the purchase of an ambulance, with a budget of about $40,000 set aside annually for future ambulance replacement; approximately $80,000 in additional medical equipment; a self-loading cot for the additional ambulance, coming at a cost of about $30,000; some $50,000 for initial EMS training, and about $20,000 for EMS supplies, for a total estimated cost of $470,000. 

Some costs could be funded through non-recurring funding sources available to the city, Rausch said.  

Proposed changes within the police department

Continuing with the slide presentation, Bump said the Fort Atkinson Police Department has 20 sworn officers, with 12 dedicated patrol officers who provide 24/7 patrol coverage. Two officers are working during all shifts, plus, when available, an additional officer works on what Bump called a “power shift.” That officer, Bump said, is used to cover a primary shift if a primary shift officer is off work, leaving a primary shift vacancy. 

Looking at per capita numbers, Bump said across Wisconsin and the United States, the average is two officers per every 1,000 in population. As an example, he said, using that metric, a community with a population of 8,000 would have 16 sworn officers. Fort Atkinson would have 27 sworn officers. 

Since 2011, Bump said, the police department has struggled to meet all of its obligations with its number of sworn officers. He anticipated that trend would continue, especially, he said, as communities ask law enforcement agencies to solve problems beyond the traditional scope of policing, safety and security. 

Like Rausch, Bump pointed to an increase in calls, noting that in 1990, the department responded to 4,778 calls. In 2020, he said, the department responded to 11,463 calls. So far in 2021, the department has responded to 9,366 calls, and, Bump said, he is projecting that the department will have responded to 14,067 calls by the end of this year. 

On average, he said, the police department responds to 11,500 calls for service annually, which breaks down to each officer handling about 960 calls a year. 

Bump said calls for police service increase in communities that have hospitals, community-based residential facilities and schools. He cited the School District of Fort Atkinson as one that services a large geographical area, which means a lot of students are coming into the city on a daily basis.

“Too many calls take officers away from proactive policing,” Bump said. He talked about what he called “the rule of 60,” developed by the Center for Public Safety Management, which suggests that 60% of a department’s sworn officers should be dedicated to patrol. Fort Atkinson meets that criteria, he said. 

Additionally, the rule states that 60% of a patrol officer’s time should be spent responding to calls. The other 40% of their time is best spent addressing community concerns and responding to serious emergencies. 

Comparing the rule of 60 with how Fort Atkinson officers spend their time, Bump said, on average, his officers spend nearly 76% of their time responding to calls, leaving just over 24% of their time for other activities, like community policing. 

Between January and August of this year, he said, the numbers were further offset, with officers spending on average just over 78% of their time on calls and nearly 22% on other activities. 

Would additional resources become available, Bump said, he saw an immediate need for two additional sworn officers, which, he estimated, would increase the department’s annual budget by approximately $200,000. 

Looking at need, he said, with plans underway for a new development along Banker Road, the city’s population would likely increase, he estimated, by at least 800 people.

The full story as reported in September, is here: https://fortatkinsononline.com/ryan-brothers-contract-terminated-council-rolls-out-plan-for-public-safety-referendum/.