Title
Recommendation to Accept $1,876,823 Grant from the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Program; and
Adoption of Resolution Amending the Fiscal Year 2018-19 Fire Grants Fund Revenue and Expenditures Budget by $3,043,494, Each, and the General Fund Expenditures Budget by $1,166,671 to Allocate the Required Matching Funds per the Grant Requirement. (Fire 220)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: David L. Rudat, Interim City Manager
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Fire Department has been awarded a new Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Grant to hire six limited-term firefighters. Under new conditions of the award, the grant requires a local match of $1,166,671. The federal share of the grant is $1,876,823 for a total cost of $3,043,494. The City of Alameda must accept the grant in order for the Fire Department to fund six limited-term firefighter positions.
BACKGROUND
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Grant Programs Directorate implements and administers the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Grants. SAFER grants provide financial assistance to help fire departments increase the number of frontline firefighters, rehire firefighters who have been laid off, retain firefighters facing imminent layoffs, or fill positions that were vacated through attrition.
Over the past 10 years, the City of Alameda Fire Department has applied for four separate SAFER grants for the purpose of hiring six limited-term firefighters for a duration of two years each. The Fire Department was awarded a 2009 and a 2011 SAFER grant, both in the amount of $1.76 million. The Fire Department was awarded another two year SAFER grant in August 2015 in the amount of $2.2 million. Staff applied with FEMA to extend the performance period for this latest grant and expect to hear on the decision within next month.
In April 2018, the Fire Department applied for a new SAFER grant. On September 7, 2018, the Fire Department was notified that the SAFER grant application had been approved. As a condition of this award, the City is required to contribute a total cost match in the amount of $1,166,671 of non-Federal funds. The Federal share is $1,876,823 of the approved total cost of $3,043,494.
DISCUSSION
The goal of the SAFER grant is to assist local fire departments with staffing and deployment capabilities in order to respond to emergencies, assuring communities have adequate protection from fire and fire-related hazards. This SAFER grant will allow the City of Alameda to employ six trained, frontline firefighters. Without the acceptance of the grant, the City will not be able to fund the six limited-term firefighter positions, which would result in increased overtime to maintain current service levels. The Federal investment will yield a valuable safety benefit for Alameda residents and businesses, the City’s critical infrastructure, and the firefighters who serve the community.
Previous SAFER grants paid 100% of the firefighter’s salaries and benefits (exclusive of overtime, uniform, and ambulance differential pays) for two years and did not require a match. However, the SAFER grant requirements have recently changed. The new grant has a three year performance period and does not allow time extensions. It also requires a 25% match for years one and two, followed by a 65% match for year three. If the City accepts the grant, the performance period will begin on February 28, 2019 and will end on February 27, 2022. There is no employee retention requirement when the grant performance period ends. However, the Fire Department must maintain the suppression staffing level for the entire grant performance period.
It is important to note that these are temporary, grant-funded positions. There is no commitment, nor expectation on the part of DHS or FEMA, that these additional positons will continue past the conclusion of the grant.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The SAFER grant is now a matching grant program whereby the Department of Homeland Security awards a portion of the total project cost and the City must provide a match. The total cost of hiring six firefighters for a three year performance period is $3,043,494. The grant will pay $1,876,823 of the total cost (exclusive of overtime, uniform and ambulance differential pays). A local match of $1,166,671 is required.
The local match, grant revenues and expenditures of $3,043,494 will be budgeted in the Fire Grants Fund (Fund 220). The Fire Department estimates the staffing costs for six firefighters through June 30, 2019 to be $310,000. The local match portion at 25% for this same period of time is $77,500 and is expected to be covered by the existing appropriations in the Fire Department Budget. This amount will be used towards a total transfer of $1,166,671 to the Fire Grants Fund to provide the full required local match funding for the grant period of 3 years. However, the Fire Department may come back at mid-year and ask for funding if unable to absorb these additional current year expenses in the existing budget. Local match funding for the years two and three of the grant will be allocated from the General Fund available balance. At the end of the each Fiscal Year, any unspent appropriations in the Grants Fund will be re-appropriated. If at the end of the grant period there will be unspent local match money remaining, they will be returned back to the General Fund.
|
Fund/Account |
Amount |
|
General Fund: |
|
|
Fire Department Expenditures |
($77,500) |
|
Fire Department Transfer Out to Fire Grants |
$1,166,671 |
|
Fire Grants: |
|
|
Transfer In (local match share) |
$1,166,671 |
|
Grant Revenue |
$1,876,823 |
|
Grant Expenditures (salaries and benefits) |
$3,043,494 |
On an annual basis, using the SAFER grant to rehire six positions, staff anticipates savings in overtime cost of approximately $500,000, assuming that the present minimum daily staffing of 24 is maintained. The Fire Department overtime is budgeted in the City’s General Fund. However, overtime savings will not be achieved until the newly hired firefighters go through an academy training, which lasts 18 weeks, and are fully deployed. Taking into account the timing of the grant funds availability, which is February 2019, and the length of the firefighter academy, the City will experience little-to-no overtime savings during FY 2018-19. Overtime savings is expected to be realized in FY 2019-20 and FY 2020-21.
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
There is no Municipal Code/policy document cross-reference.
RECOMMENDATION
Accept $1,876,823 Grant from the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Program and to Approve a Resolution Amending the Fiscal Year 2018-19 Fire Grants Fund Revenue and Expenditures Budget by $3,043,494, Each, and General Fund Expenditures Budget by $1,166,671 to Allocate the Required Matching Funds per the Grant Requirement.
Respectfully submitted,
Edmond Rodriguez, Fire Chief
By,
Darci Vogel, Fire Administrative Services Supervisor
Financial Impact section reviewed,
Elena Adair, Finance Director
Exhibit:
1. Award Package