Background

 Fire departments and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) agencies across Wisconsin are facing intensifying fiscal and service-level challenges that are threatening existing service models and prompting consideration of new approaches. These challenges stem, in part, from the strict property tax levy limits facing Wisconsin municipalities and increasing costs associated with vehicles, equipment, and service expectations. Staff recruitment and retention issues (particularly with regard to part-time and volunteer staff) and rising call volumes caused by aging populations or new development also are exacerbating the challenges for many departments and agencies.

Walworth County has not been immune from such challenges. The county is served by 17 distinct fire departments that utilize a range of staffing models and provide different levels of first response, advanced life support, and ambulance transport services. Many rely heavily on part-time and volunteer staff and face recruitment and retention difficulties that have raised questions about their long-term sustainability. Moreover, concerns have arisen regarding the equitability of mutual aid among the 17 departments and about whether there should be consistent service standards and expectations for EMS across the county.

In light of these concerns, and at the request of numerous towns and municipalities, Walworth County leaders established a countywide Fire and EMS Study Committee in 2016. Recently, that committee voted to support the conduct of an objective, third-party analysis of options for establishing a higher level of fire and EMS services across the entire county, including consideration of how to improve coordination among the existing departments and create equitable and sustainable financing mechanisms.

The Wisconsin Policy Forum (WPF) has analyzed fire and EMS service delivery and fiscal challenges in dozens of departments across Wisconsin over the past decade. In fact, we recently conducted a study for Jefferson County that examined the options for enhancing and better coordinating EMS among multiple municipal providers and the county, as well as one in Ozaukee County that explored a range of options for coordinating and consolidating fire and EMS among the county’s eight departments. We are well-equipped to provide policymakers in Walworth County with valuable insights on viable options and appropriate cost sharing methodologies.

 Proposal

The Wisconsin Policy Forum proposes a study that would analyze the range of options that exist with regard to improved and better-coordinated fire and EMS provision in Walworth County and lay out the fiscal and programmatic impacts of each. To assist us in these types of analyses, we typically propose the creation of a work group consisting of administrative and fire/EMS representatives from the county and municipal providers to meet regularly with us throughout the study period to help collect and examine data, define options, and review sections of the final report. In this case, given that a Fire and EMS Study Committee already exists, we would propose that the existing committee play that role.

The analysis would include the following:

1. Data Collection – WPF would collect and synthesize fire department fiscal and service data from each of the departments that provide service in Walworth County. To the extent that such data already has been compiled by departments, WPF would seek to work with such data. Data collected would include:

• • Operating budget data from each department, including wage and benefit cost trends; revenue trends; expenditures on indirect expenses (e.g. uniforms and training); and expenditures on overhead services, such as training and administration.
  • Capital budget data, including expenditure trends and projected capital needs.
  • Service-related data, including calls for service and service activity (broken down by fire and EMS), response times, and dispatch activity.
  • Personnel-related data, including numbers and types of employees.

2. Data analysis/development of options – WPF would analyze and use these data as the basis for developing options to enhance fire and EMS service provision and coordination in the county and/or to share or consolidate various service elements, which may, in part, consider response options and include a full consolidation option. Options would be developed with the guidance and advice of the work group. Those options ultimately fleshed out would be accompanied by analysis describing potential fiscal and operational impacts, as well as possibilities for governance, financing, and cost sharing. Specific issues to be addressed in the study include:

• • How demographic and housing economics may relate to staffing trends
  • Options for short-, mid-, and long-term service delivery improvements
  • Current levels of cooperation and potential opportunities for enhanced operational collaboration and/or consolidation
  • Appropriate strategies for providing a consistent level of EMS across the county based on desired and required levels of medical service
  • Mix of staffing under various shared services/consolidation scenarios (e.g. paid-on-call, part-time, full-time) and potential strategies to collaborate on recruitment and retention
  • Possibilities for coordinated equipment purchase, equipment/apparatus sharing, joint training, and sharing of command staff
  • Appropriate cost sharing options, potential impacts on levy limits, and possible innovative financing approaches

4. Final report – WPF would prepare a written report summarizing the data, laying out potential enhanced coordination/service sharing/consolidation options, and suggesting possible paths toward implementation. The final draft report would be provided in draft form to the Fire and EMS Study Committee to review and offer feedback before it is finalized. The final report would be submitted to the County Administrator, who would address its release to the Fire and EMS Study Committee, County Board, local governments, and the public. It could be released to the public and disseminated by WPF only with the advice and consent of the County Administrator, which consent may not be unreasonably withheld.
5. Presentations – After release of the final report to the County Administrator, the WPF will provide one public presentation, which the County may record, at a single or joint public meeting as the County determines is appropriate. Additional presentations requested after that point shall be at the additional cost as set forth

Our Credentials

WPF’s Board of Directors has committed the organization to conducting research on critical public policy issues facing the state of Wisconsin and its local governments and school districts. In January 2018, we expanded our research capacity and mission via the merger of the Public Policy Forum and the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance. The Wisconsin Policy Forum remains committed to both organizations’ legacies of nonpartisan, independent research and civic education.

Local government financial analysis and efficiency initiatives have been the “bread and butter” of both organizations. Our role in researching fire department and EMS agency operations and service sharing opportunities has received widespread media coverage and praise by policymakers and fire department officials. This is testimony to the talent and experience of our staff resources.

Specific staff assigned to this project will include:

• WPF President Rob Henken. Mr. Henken has led the organization since 2008. He has held several senior fiscal positions in government, including staff director for a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee, associate staff for the House Appropriations Committee, and Director of County Board Research, Health and Human Services, and Administrative Services for Milwaukee County. He has led or guided each of the Forum’s fire and EMS studies since 2008, including the previously mentioned Jefferson and Ozaukee County reports and other recent reports for departments in La Crosse and the Fox Valley.
• WPF Research Director Jason Stein. Mr. Stein joined WPF in May 2018 after 13 years as a reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Wisconsin State Journal, where he covered state and local government budgets and finance. He has won several national journalism awards and has had two fellowships in financial reporting.
• WPF Researcher Don Cramer. Mr. Cramer joined the Forum in August 2022 after working as a data analyst for the Mequon-Thiensville school district, a professional actuary, and a high school mathematics teacher. He was the lead author on the Forum’s recent cost allocation methodology study for the Oshkosh Fire Department and brings strong data and financial skills and experience to the project.
• WPF Researcher Ashley Fisher. Ms. Fisher joined the Forum in August 2018 after working as a budget analyst for the Washington State Employment Security Department and a researcher for the state’s Office of Program Research. She was the lead researcher on the Forum’s Jefferson County EMS study as well as fiscal analyses of several Greater Racine local governments.

Other members of the Forum’s award-winning research staff and contract researchers may also be dedicated to this project depending on need and research capacity.

Project Timeline and Budget

 We anticipate a project timeline of approximately 6 to 7 months, as shown in the figure below. We would caution, however, that the timeline may be impacted by the capacity and willingness of municipal and county officials and staff to respond in a timely basis to our requests for data, interviews, and information.

	July/August	September	October	November	December	January	February
Data collection (including survey)
Interviews
Data analysis
Report write-up
Report review
Final report

 

The following are some more precise target dates for key elements of the project:

• July 31 – surveys sent to chiefs
• August 19 – all survey responses and requested supplemental information submitted
• September/Early October – interview requests sent to EMS agencies
• September/October – initial interviews conducted
• October through December – meeting(s) involving Fire & EMS Study Committee & other stakeholders to consider options (additional meetings of committee and small groups called as necessary until report is complete)
• January – department profiles sent to respective chiefs for review
• February – draft report distributed for review and feedback
• Late February/Early March — report finalized and published

The total project cost would be $26,500 as detailed in the table below. We would reduce our typical 7.5% charge for indirect costs to 5.0% in light of the consistency of this project with our mission, which prominently includes work to promote intergovernmental cooperation and collaboration.

Project Budget
Total project cost		$26,500
Personnel costs		$24,950
Research
Executive Staff 90 hrs @$135/hr		$12,150
Research Staff 160 hrs@$80 hr		$12,800
Non-personnel costs		$300
Travel		$300
Printing, design, copying, etc.		NA
Indirect costs (5%)		$1,250
Costs for Additional Presentations of Research
In-Person Presentation		$450
Remote Virtual Presentation		$250