1A, Lake Johanna Fire Budget, Capital Facilities Need Study

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Saint Cloud Fire Department, MN Fire Protection Master Plan- Executive Summary Document Where such staffing systems have been most successful, managers typically point to the development of a "culture of acceptance". In short, many ineffective combination departments are filled with on-call responders who want to view the organization as a "volunteer fire department" and see it operate in that fashion. Conversely, many of the career personnel in these same agencies want to view the organization as a "career fire department" and seek to downplay the existence or value of all but full-time staff. The successful combination departments seem to have developed an accepted identity as just what they are- a combination staffed agency. In these departments, both career and on-call personnel clearly understand- and have accepted- what they individually bring to the agency, and what the other side brings to the table as well. We believe such a culture of acceptance will be extremely difficult, but not impossible, to achieve in the Saint Cloud Fire Department. As was pointed out earlier in the report, the department has had ten years of experience with a poorly planned merger that has built walls between the career and on-call responders that are clearly seen during interviews with personnel at all levels of the organization. The best opportunity for success in this regard would be through an internal strategic planning process. If the organizational structure of a fully unified and integrated combination staffing system is accepted by the City as its long-term strategy, the internal strategic planning process can bring the personnel within the department into the process of determining how to achieve its success, including transitional methods to achieve the necessary level of acceptance. Fiscal Projection This long-term strategy calls for the addition of a new fire station, the relocation of an existing station, the renovation of an existing station, the addition of one engine to the apparatus fleet, and an increase in on-duty staffing. In an effort to demonstrate the financial impact of the strategy, we project both the anticipated capital costs and the impact to annual operating expenditures if this long-term strategy were fully and completely implemented. We emphasize one very important point. This financial analysis provides a "snapshot" of the fiscal effects of the deployment, resource, and staffing changes as if the action occurs during the current budgetary year. Our analysis does not attempt to predict the actual tax rate after implementation. 16