but we -- we will never be able to arrest ourselves out of the problem. the knot of time, effort and money it takes to put handcuffs on somebody and find them 24 hours later, it's a very -- that issue needs to be explored much deeper because we spend a lot of money and time on it. supervisor chu: thank you. why don't we open this item up to public comment? is there any member of the public that wishes to speak on this item? seeing it none, public, disclosed. if there are no other questions from the committee, i would like to thank the chief for his presentation. there are a number of items folks on this committee are certainly interested in following up with. thank you for that. quickly, so we can recap, the items people were interested in was the civilianization

component. people are interested to see what would happen with the wage increase in the coming year. with regards to command staff, i think if further explanation would be the level of staffing we have across the board. with regards to i.t., i know that supervisor chiu mentioned that component. can we continue this item to the call of the chair? without objection. >> hearing to receive the update on the fire department's budget for fiscal year 2011-2012. supervisor chu: i believe we have the fire department to provide a presentation on this item. >> good afternoon. yes, we do have a presentation.

before we get started, i would like to acknowledge the presence of my chief financial officer who will be assisting in the presentation as well as the deputy chief of the administration. also the good work of the comptroller's office as well as our budget analyst for their assistance in getting as to where we are today. it has been a collaborative process. we did submit our budget to the mayor's budget office on february 22nd. it was that there are five member commission and submitted with their support. as we get started, i want to remind you that the mission of the san francisco fired marvin is to protect lives and property in this 49-square-mile city. we provide fire suppression, fire protection and the assistance of medical services in the city.

in addition to being surrounded by water on three sides, we do confined space rescue and all hazard response and protection. the department has the chief and i assisted by two deputies. one overseas the department and one oversees the administration. we have six deputy chiefs overseeing the airport which is funded through the airport. the support services division, homeland security, we have that fire marshal who oversees the investigation of training and as well as our ems division. the first slide -- and i believe all of you should have a copy. the department has approximately $306 million in our operating budget. approximately $280 million is

general fund dollars. we look at our budget sources and we see we are predominantly funded by the general fund which makes up approximately two- thirds of our funding. our second largest source comes from the public safety sales tax. fees for services like ambulance transport and fire prevention services account for approximately 10% of our sources. we are also reimport -- reimbursed by the airport and port for staffing and services that those entities. as far as our budget expenditures go, similar to what you heard from the police department, approximately 91% of our budget is set aside for salary and benefits of department members. that leaves approximately 9% of our budget for all of the functions needed to keep the department operating, including 50 facilities, 43 working fire stations, and it includes fire station maintenance, utilities

to keep the lights on and running at those facilities. maintenance and repair and fuel for vehicles and all administrative functions for the department. 91% as salaries and benefits. 9% is for all the other stuff. this next slide -- as we look at how the program funding breaks down, not a surprise. a large majority of the budget is designated for operations, which is our sole purpose. one of our biggest priorities is the provision for protection of life and property. direct fire suppression and emergency medical services we provide to the public, including the staffing of the fire stations as well as ambulances we have. the budget covers all the administrative and support functions, including workers' compensation for the department. as well as the division of

trading and fire prevention and investigation. as you know, prior to mayor newsom leaving to become lieutenant governor, all department heads were asked to submit to part of the 10% reduction. this explains how we arrived at that. the department was able to realize some savings in the auxiliary water system that was transferred to the puc. 2.5% was about $1.3 million, which we achieved. we realize some attrition savings from unfilled civilian positions as well as previous savings from non-suppression and blaze. the department received a reimbursement receive from the state due to be delayed we provided in 2008.

that was approximately $80,000. finally, the are always able to seat savings from the uniform allocation set aside for new academy classes by absorbing cost in our current year budget. we took approximately $258,000 for that. that rolls and to about $1.3 million. all of the items were taken as part of the 2.5% reduction that we made a. this next slide highlights -- the december savings, we needed to come up with the overall 10% which represents $5.2 million. approximately 573 in additional net revenues from back payments for rent. you see the line item. that is predominantly from rent we were owed to to some of the sites we have on some facilities.

as well as increases to profit -- to fire prevention revenues. we are seeing more people go to the bureau and get fire prevention permits. so we saw a slight increase in that. an additional $1.2 million in ambulance revenue is assumed and predicate on the assumption of the department regaining exclusive operating rights for san francisco, which i will get into in greater detail later in the presentation. 470,000 was for additional recovery for providing services. approximately $400,000 of the work order savings from the water bill. they are paying for the water bill for some of our facilities at the public utilities commission. they are assuming that water bill. approximately $2.5 million, a

large portion, is in savings for the continued deactivation co. -- deactivation of company 35. there is a major renovation under way at that station and has been deactivated. the proposal is to continue deactivation while the station is under renovation. that is approximately $2.5 million in savings. some of the increases reflect annual purchases stripped out of the budget as well as increases to premium and overtime pay as a result of the mou increases. these costs are absorbed by the department. i know that supervisor chiu, following the police department presentation, there's a similar formula for how the 10% was arrived at. one of the reasons it is $5.2

million is their assumption for minimum staffing provided for in the ordinance set forth by proposition f. that is why 5.2 represents 10% for our department. the next slide talks about that 10% contingency reduction. we met our 5.2% which represents 10% as it relates to the contingency. we had a long discussion with the fire commission and we talked to many of you and when we did our submission on february 22nd, we did not include a contingency. we are continuing to work with the mayor's office in identifying additional sources for savings. without a doubt, anything above and beyond the initial 10% would result in adverse operational

and packs. we were creative enough to be able to get the first & pride ourselves in not being able to have to cut into the operations with too much difficulty. every year -- this is that eight year have been part of the fire department budget in preparing and being responsible for it, we have been responsive to the request for reducing the budget. the contingency will be tough and i know you have tough decisions to make. we have done some preliminary analysis. if we were asked for a 10% contingency, it would mean closures of engine companies at this point. that is what we would be providing as part of the solution. at the conclusion of the presentation, i can talk a little bit further about what that might look like. in addition, there were concessions made year in and

year out of the men and women of local 798. this year alone, there were approximately $11.2 million in concessions made. 11-12 assumes $6.9 million. there are some -- there is some language contained in the mou that if there were engine closers and items related to the charges like work week, those savings would no longer be in effect. i'm happy to answer any questions about that. supervisor chiu: what is the overall budget of your department? >> is at $306 million. $280 million is general funds. >supervisor chiu: the 10% we are

looking for -- we are looking for those savings to treat your department as we would others. i understand you've said your commission has not provided the solutions as we think about what we might need to do to hit the target, right? >> for contingency? correct. the discussion is very open. we are looking for direction from the mayor's budget office. any ideas or direction you have -- we met the first 10% without having to have adverse operational impact. if we go further than that, we will. we need to have that discussion and we can. i am prepared to do it today if you want. supervisor chiu: i wonder if there's a different way to go. we heard from the police department there receiving pay raises this year. if the police officers

association did not provide as pay raises, those could likely help us avoid the layoffs that department is looking at. right now, the salaries within your department are 20% more than their counterparts in other parts of the bay area. if you attack on overtime and special pay, according to our human-resources director, you are talking about almost a one- third increase compared to counterparts around the bay area, right? how should we think about that? >> i know we had that discussion last week. supervisor chiu: how should we think about that? a fidelity at the police department and asking people to think about not taking their pay raises this year, and as much as we all support our firefighters and want to make sure those services are continuing, our

department sees it salaries and benefits one-third higher than the others around the bay? >> just some context -- similar response as i gave you last week in terms of my role was the chief at the department. we want to make sure we have a well-trained and competent workforce, which we do. we have dedicated and hard- working members. my hands are somewhat tied in terms of the negotiation process. negotiations are done through the bargaining unit in the department of human resources. i would perceive myself as a very interested third party, but not one that has a voice that can set table -- that can sit at tables. contracts have gone into effect and the negotiations are done at table and reviewed by the mayor's office. they're not only reviewed by the executive branch but the legislative branch. the contracts come before this body and have been approved.

they were approved, candidly, perhaps during better economic times. it is very true that there was a race to in july worth approximately $9 million. a 4% race, part of it deferred from last year. -- 4% raise, part of it deferred from last year. supervisor chiu: put a different way, if your department and not take that raise, we would not have to lay off any positions. >> unlike the police department, we are not in a situation where we would have to lay off employees. this was raised last week at the committee government audits and oversight. we have higher over time expenditure because we have come up with a formula and it has proven with the help of the

mayor's office that staffing and higher overtime rate is more fiscally efficient. in terms of the bottom line, we have many fewer employees than we did five years ago. what that means is that if we were to cut back on -- if we had to make cutbacks for us, we would not be making layoffs. but we have minimum staffing as well. there are many layers of complexity. >> i think we still have four times as many firefighters per- capita as other jurisdictions around the state, right? >> i cannot concur -- i cannot confirm that. that sounds high to me. we have a far different challenges than most cities west of the mississippi in terms of the fire problem in the challenge related to wind. you just ask supervisor campos

who joined me a couple of weeks ago -- a wind-driven fire with wood frame construction -- every fire station we had in every firefighter we had was worth every penny. it is a matter of -- it is a matter of managing risks. there are many challenges associated with fighting fires in san francisco then save phoenix or los angeles county. >> i appreciate that. the challenge is we are expecting 20% general fund cuts in all of these apartments. what i'm hearing from you is we have figured out solutions to get about 10%, which is not actually 10% of your entire department. italy a handful of a percentage of the entire department and we're trying to figure out how to close the gap.

one thing i am looking at is a your firefighters make one-third more than their counterparts north, south, and to the east of us, and yet that -- you see where i am going. >> i absolutely understand your point. supervisor wiener: what would it look like if you have to do the other 10%, if there is no give back? what operationally would it look like? >> when i first became fire chief in 2004, it was not as difficult as now, but we were having budget issues and constraints. one of the things i piloted was temporary deactivation or brownouts of engine companies.

not a popular decision. not something i was proud of doing, but i was given an edict to make it work with less money. we pilot did this and what came was a proposition to call for mandatory staffing levels. that passed overwhelmingly by the voters who did not like the fact engine companies were being closed on a temporary basis. nobody wanted in their district. one of the things we would propose if we had no other choice is to look at going back to that. that would be in the form of engine company closures. we would try to minimize the impact so of we were to do it, we would do it based on analysis

and response time into the district from the second company. we put a lot of thought into it. we would not want to shatter one particular property, so we would look at a station that has more than one unit out of that particular area. when we did in 2004, we did it on a rotational basis and approved to be difficult to manage and work for us in terms of our numbers. we were mandated by two different entities to meet at the 90th percentile. we were mandated by the emergency medical services survey. we were prepared through our analysis to close engine companies, but i must remind everyone that concessions have been made by the bargaining unit and the concessions are built upon the fact that its engine companies are closed,

those concessions become vulnerable and go away. supervisor wiener: so if we did some sort of brownout, what would the penalty be in terms of those prior concessions that were coming back? >> in the current year, around 11.2 in concessions were made. it has -- it was taken by half years so that 6.9 would be vulnerable if we're to brownout and make that decision. depending on when the brownout would occur, half of that. it is all spelled out in the mou. one engine brownout per year is worth approximately $2.5 million. if we did four of them, that

would be approximately $10 million. so you have some savings but you would be giving up 6.9 million in concessions. >> how many engine companies would we have to brownout? >> two. supervisor wiener: taking into account the penalties? >> it would be at least four, possibly six. the agreement for the concession was built on the fact it is safer to have occurred about of staffing that we have. i can work a math out for you but it would be a minimum of 4 and up to six. the analysis we looked at -- it is difficult and painful and not something i suggest we do, but i know you have many competing interests before you. our analysis, similar to last

year, there is a slight change, but station no. 2 is in one of the most densely populated areas of the city. based on response times, because there is good coverage and stations within close proximity, that would be one of the first engine companies we would look at deactivating. followed by station 5 on turk and webster. station no. 14 on 27 ave. station 7 is in the mission district. this would be one apparatus out of those stations and it would be a reduced response to the city. all of them are not great solutions. but it is something we have to look at the going to be held to making additional reductions. in my 21 years in the departments, we have never been staffed more legally that we are now.

-- more leanly than we are now. it's a large budget, but if 91% is spoken for in terms of salary and benefit, and only 9%, the only real way to get contingency money is on the outside. supervisor wiener: if we were to have these brownouts, i guess these pay for the firefighters working reduced hours or does it? >> based on how we staff, which is with approximately 11% on overtime, we do not believe -- there would be less opportunity for overtime but it would not reduce their hours. it would not reduce regularly scheduled hours. supervisor wiener: but the take- home pay would be less because there are the less overtime? >> yes. but the base pay would remain the same.

supervisor chu: i might have stepped out when you mentioned the brownouts, but there would be an impact to the mou givebacks, right? >> yes. if -- the entire amount for a 11-12 would be forfeited. a one-year brownout is worth approximately $2.5 million. if there is a violation between july 1st, 2011 and december 3rd, it would be half that. no impact after december 24th, 2011. supervisor kim: when we talk about the deactivation of an engine, are we talking about one truck or are we talking about an entire fire station? >> we have two different types

of apparatus -- the engine is a smaller one which carries water and poses that was one officer and three firefighters. the stations i highlighted as a potential brownout engine co. are quarter with another apparatus, typically a truck company, the larger of the to apparatus with the forcible entry tools and hydraulic letters. supervisor kim: i only ask because the line item under the first 10% target reductions for engine 35 -- we were talking about that apparatus but when we talk about brownouts, the saving is roughly $2.5 million for station no. 2? >> it would be the same savings as engine 35 because would be the same apparatus. the station would remain open, but some of it is for where and

care and maintenance of the vehicle. but the ball is from the officer and three firefighters that staff at 24/7. the station would remain open. >>supervisor kim: there not be y layoffs but there would be an opportunity for -- a reduction in the opportunity for overtime. >> correct. supervisor kim: i have asked this question to the mayor's office yesterday, but i was hoping you could talk a little bit about this -- a couple of days ago, i saw, i believe the person was inebriated. there is a person on the ground on market and says. a little to my chagrin, there were not only for police officers but a fire truck and an ambulance there. i'm just wondering why we have

that kind of response to deal with one individual if you can go through the mechanics of that. for a layperson like me, it seems that an extreme dedication of resources for one individual. >> it just to run through that -- when someone calls 911, we try to get the chief complaint or mechanism. it may not be the person in need of medical attention. typically, we will dispatch an engine company which has a basic support trained person. many companies also have a paramedic on board. our philosophy is when we respond to the call, we want to make sure we have the appropriate amount of resources. we would rather pilaf resources that have to apply resources in that have to apply resources in critical, lifesaving situations.