Fire Authority OKs Plan to Give Cities Their Due

Ending nearly two years of deliberation and bitter debate, the Orange County Fire Authority’s directors unanimously approved final adjustments Thursday to a funding plan that they said will help balance what cities pay with the level of fire services they receive.

The equity-funding plan is to ensure that each of the authority’s 19 cities pays a fair share for services. For months it has drawn criticism from officials in some smaller cities that cannot afford to pay all of their own costs for firefighting, while authorities in larger cities have countered that they pay hundreds of thousands of dollars more into the authority than they receive in services.

Orange County Supervisor Todd Spitzer, who is also chairman of the Fire Authority board, said each city will now have until July 1 to accept or reject the plan. At the urging of representatives from Westminster, Stanton and Buena Park, the board agreed to give those cities six months longer to decide whether they will stay with the authority or form their own fire departments, Spitzer said.

“Based on the discussions and our vote tonight, and unless Stanton, Westminster and Buena Park believe they can provide fire services cheaper, the Fire Authority will stay together,” Spitzer said.

The authority was concerned that some cities and the county are making up a shortfall of nearly $9 million spent on service to seven other cities.

When the Fire Authority was created in 1995, the cities imposed a three-year waiting period before any changes could be made in the cost of services based on equity. That period expired in March, and a study was quickly begun by Irvine, which pays more than it receives.

If approved by most of the city councils and the county, new contracts would begin July 1.