Elected leaders from four south Davis County cities meeting this week can say they agreed on at least one thing: Planning the future of their fire district is a hot issue.
Twenty city council members, four mayors and several staffers tried to reach agreement on one document.At issue is the future of the South Davis Fire District, the department that provides protection for 70,000 residents of Centerville, North Salt Lake, Woods Cross and West Bountiful.
Its governing board is studying a draft "interlocal" agreement that takes control of the department's budget, its indebtedness and general operation away from the city councils and gives it to a new, nine-member board.
An ad-hoc committee of the board says the department needs that autonomy to be a legal entity and to operate more efficiently.
But the councils, meeting together this week for the first time in at least four years, aren't ready to buy the deal. Some of their concerns include:
- A nine-member board (composed of an elected leader and citizen from each city) is unwieldy and weakens the power of each city.
"My main concern is that three entities could overrule one more easily. As it is now, everything has to come back to each council for approval," said Stan Porter, a councilman from North Salt Lake.
Members of the ad-hoc committee favored the nine-member board because they believe it would improve communication between the board and cities - an issue that has caused bickering among leaders.
"Well, if it's just a communication problem, then let's treat it as such and not just add people to the board," said Councilwoman Terry Carlson, also from North Salt Lake.
- A proposed funding formula in the draft interlocal agreement isn't fair.
Currently, each city pays between $90,000 and $225,000 each year for services. The amounts are based on each city's total assessed property valuation, but the draft changes the formula to include number of calls from each city and a risk assessment.
That means cities like West Bountiful and North Salt Lake would likely pay more because of petroleum refineries located within their limits.
"We're already paying more because those companies are in our cities . . . our assessed valuation is higher because their assessed valuation is higher," said Carlson. "Why are we thinking about triple-assessing cities?"
- A clause that allows cities to leave the district could weaken the district as a whole. Currently, a city would not get any money or equipment back from the district if it decided to leave it. The draft, however, would compensate the leaving city for its contributions to the district dating to 1981.
"We've got to make sure that the integrity of the district, the service we provide to our citizens, isn't jeopardized by one city leaving us," said Woods Cross Councilman Darin Hicks.
Centerville, the largest contributor to the district's budget, in the past has entertained the idea of leaving the district. In fact, the city's representative to the ad-hoc committee lobbied hard for the exit clause.
"We're not interested in an exit right now. . . . I just don't see that it's cost-effective," said Councilman Ken Brown. "But the doors need to be open, who knows what the future will bring."