domestic violence homicides by 80% over the last decade. the family violence council has an appointment from president david chiu, and supervisor carmen chu has been helpful in our collective efforts against human trafficking. no. 4 is a summary of staffing changes. one of the biggest changes we have experienced as a department is a drop in our staffing. in the current year, we lost full-time domestic violence policy analysts. there were under five end of those five people, three are working part-time. i really did not want to communicate to the members of the budget in the finance committee that we are doing our best, but really to accomplish our mandate, also given our

fifth world conference, we would love to get back up to a 5.5 level. we are contributing to the job creation and summer youth employment opportunities. we have doubled the commitment for those works. we are hosting two high-school entrance. we are a small office and want to pitch in. we anticipate economic activity and employment growth through our fifth world conference on women, which is proposed for 2015. finally, department language access. we keep close track of the extent of the reach of our partner agencies into our diverse community. so, over half of the clients that we have served our spanish- speaking. the pie chart brings up some of the rest of the language is served by our partner agencies.

our staff, among the five on our team, we have mandarin, japanese, and italian capacity. so, i am happy to entertain questions about our department budget. supervisor chu: thank you very much. to the budget analyst, is there anything the you would add to the presentation? ok, thank you for the presentation. given that there are no recommendations, we will not be requiring you to come back. why don't we go to the fire department?

>> good afternoon, chairman, members of the budget finance committee. we have approximately 10 slides that we have prepared for our presentation. we would be happy to answer any questions. i wanted to acknowledge my chief financial officer. i also wanted to acknowledge and thank the mayor's budget office for their assistance. we worked closely with them. certainly, thank you to the good work of the comptroller and budget analyst, mr. rose. flip to the next slide. this is, as you requested, a high-level budget. the department's proposed budget

for 12-13 is approximately $327 million. the largest majority of the budget is allocated to salary and fringe benefits. two-thirds of the department overall budget support comes from the general fund, with the remainder coming from city or state revenue, such as the airport, or ports, where we have facilities, three at the airport, the fireboat down at pier 22.5. there are constraints that we need to take into account when developing the budget. mandated minimum staffing requirements that mainly cover fire suppression. we are also currently developing a minimum levels of ambulance transport services as a result of the guidelines that

i will cover in a future slide. here is a look at our major budget changes that the department is proposing over the next two fiscal years. for the source is discussed in last month's presentation, we will be seeing you ambulance revenue coming in as a result of the state legislation that takes advantage of the already existing federal funding. we discussed this before. this is basically a supplemental reimbursement for medi-cal patients. this is a retroactive program, so the department is anticipating a onetime revenue for services retroactive to january of 2010. with the resolution of the ambulance system, which i will talk about briefly, the department is anticipating an increase in the number of overall transports that it handles.

we will read about staffing, as i will discuss soon, to meet the requirements of the exclusive operating area. with the economy improving, the department is seeing an overall increase in activity in fire prevention services. as more construction projects make their way through the approval process, as a reminder, the main revenue stream coming in is through the bureau of fire prevention and medical care and transport. a large portion of the department's budget increased from the current fiscal year because the salaries and fringe benefits outside our control. in addition, the mayor's office is proposing we staffing and june 30 through 22.5 on the embarcadero. as part of the public safety hiring plan, which we were proud to participate in, we are proposing an academy of 30

emergency medical technicians in the first fiscal year. we were scheduled to hire 30 beginning july 9 of next month. we were very excited about tha. following that, and academy of 42 firefighters for this fiscal year and the following fiscal year. to meet the requirements of that -- of this exclusive operating area, the fire department is looking to fund the much-needed equipment purchases and upgrade and replace equipment, like if regulators and ambulance equipment and the uncertainty of not having it in place. we are also requesting a couple of additional positions at the bureau of fire prevention. costs are covered through what i discussed earlier. supervisor kim: thank you.

first of all, i know that this is an ongoing issue in terms of the fire department's position as a provider of ambulance services. i am glad that there is clarification on that and we will be able to hire through the academy program. helping to fill that need is a step in a positive direction. i know that we talked about this earlier. i was wondering if you could speak more about the need to reactivate engine 35. clearly, over the next few years there will be additional activity on the waterfront. is there an analyst that is needed? for the last couple of years, we have been able to do that work without reactivation. >> engine 35 is a vital part of the staffing. we may do without it for the past few fiscal years because of

seismic renovations. approximately $27 million will be invested to have a full-blown redo of engine 35 and the fireboat. we currently have two that are worth their weight in gold, if you ask me. look back to 1989, where the fireboat phoenix pumped and save the major parts of the arena of when they experienced failures. we have also been the awardee of approximately $8 million to have a new fire boat, which is in the process of being built at this time. so, the property along the waterfront is obviously important. it is well-traveled. we have a lot of new residents in the south beach area. to say that they were read

staffing 35, yes, it was time for the america's cup, but it is time to move on. it was always part of the plan, to be staffed that station. -- research staff -- restaff that station. their role is unique in that they respond to land incidents and they are the staff for the fireboat, when it gets under way for any rescues or fires. it is considered a regional asset. the only one operating full time on the day. also something worth noting. supervisor kim: i know that the facility was deactivated because of safety issues. i was curious as to what improvements that were made were and where they enough for the safety of your crew. >> thank you for the question.

that was my concern as well. we have been assured that the work has been done, with a new pouring have foundations to accommodate the heavy apparatus, as well as installing some of more accessible and fireproof doors and so forth. it has been completed and will be completed by the end of the month. the plan will be to be staff -- restaff that station by the end of the fiscal year. >> and i know we -- supervisor kim: you will be open within one week? >> between july 1 and july 2, depending. supervisor kim: beyond the city budget process, is there another you have to go through for support in this reactivation? >> we have kept support very closely in touch on this project. in addition, this is sort of a

band-aid solution. we wanted to get the station's staff began. it is one of our major projects. there will be approximately $27 million in fused into this property to make it a station for the future and be able to how was the boat that is coming in the next year or so. the last thing i wanted on this slide is the grant match in 12- 13. we were the recipient of grant funding to replace our self- contained breathing apparatus. so, we have asked for $379,000 to match the grant, which was $1.5 million. the next slide, this talks more about 35. we are proposing to reactivate 35 along the embarcadero.

as stated, the station has been out of service and staffing has not been in place since 2009, which will result in four members extra on duty, per day. the crew of the fireboat, when they respond on the water, and the complete overhaul of the station, which they planned for. a little bit more about the exclusive operating area, we were happy to receive news that earlier this year, a decision had been made in 2008 that the fire department was always concerned about. the removal of what was called the exclusive operating agreement, providing the services with private ambulances coming in. a determination was made that the scope and the manner of 2008 had changed in terms of us providing medical service.

so, there was a lot of inefficiency. we were not able to plan or properly staffed. january of this year, the state reversed their decision and restore the operating area, which is great news for us, one of the great reasons we are going to infuse more divisions in terms of personnel, equipment, and apparatus. supervisor chu: with regards to the exclusive operating area, my understanding is that there are two other private entities that are part of that exclusive operating agreement, generally. the same ones who were in place before it was not exclusive, correct? flax is that it right. restoring their decision from prior to 2008. supervisor chu: on that issue,

if we move forward in the operating area continues to be exclusive, is there any reason in the future -- how does that sort of work? are we able to charge them to be part of this exclusive system? >> break points. as a fire department, we are interested third-party on this. we are providing the service. the restoration of the language reside with the department of emergency management, who oversees the local emfa process, which mandates pre-hospital treatment. we are working closely with them. i believe that the director has appointed her deputy on this process. i think that all of those decisions late for us. but nothing has been finalized.

we have seen the priority. it could certainly generate more revenue for the city. certainly, with us increasing transports in your point about a competitive process. all of that is working in process. if you ask me, it cannot happen soon enough. supervisor chu: i would definitely like to hear more about that, as that progresses, if we do decide to go down a competitive process for to those entities will be. whether they would be able to pay extra fees, or even if they were able to pick up our instant cases. that would be helpful. they tend to cherry pick the insurance that pays the bill. it would be interesting to see how it changes, going forward. quacks' perhaps i could suggest the director and myself to sit down with you and this is a very

positive thing for the city. supervisor avalos: thank you, chief. thank you for your presentation. i'm looking at the report and it needs to have 80% coverage and it is just at 70 two%. what does that mean in terms of the continuance of the exclusive operating area? >> there is time to wrap up. and that is exactly what we're doing. -- there is time to ramp up. and that is exactly what we're doing. those levels, in terms of the percentages of the patients that the fire department is transporting to the hospitals

here in the city, we have dropped down to that percentage to about 70% in order to restore to what we were at in 2008. we have lost some of the transport share, if you will, because there was some uncertainty regarding staffing and so forth. that is why on july 9th, we will have 30 new employees coming into the san francisco police -- fire apartment. supervisor avalos: and that is in the emergency response? so in general, transport from the hospital, that is an arrangement, correct? >> yes, it is. it is 911 emergency transport. supervisor avalos: i know we have looked at how we might raise fees for ambulance companies to be able to work in san francisco.

their billing often through metical. this is a way to do cost recovery for some of the ambulances providing transport. i know some of them were providing emergency transport as well. that is getting work done with the fire department, something the mts specialists are now doing -- a the emt specialists are doing as well. that could be a way to help recover the costs that the fire department may have in pain for cabin glasses and other general fund -- in paying for cavan classes and other general fund expenditures. >> we will provide first responders to grout to the

medical scene. what we have seen is that we have basically triaged the patient to determine the severity of the illness and then when they have an ambulance come in to transport, there is no cost recovery for a first responder fee right now. the timing is absolutely perfect sense we have had this eoa restored to basically come in and set the parameters for people to come into the system. supervisor avalos: this has been talked about for a couple of years now and i've gone back and forth whether i want to leave it up to the department. whether it is with the department or with legislation given to the board of supervisors, but it would be great if we could get this to move. i just got a letter from ann kronenberg last month saying

that it would be great if we could actually have a fee, but i do not know if that is going to happen because this has been discussed for a while and it hasn't. it would be great to move the news things along -- to move these things along in order to help the budget. >> i just have to be very careful advocating, because again, we are one of the providers, if you will. we are interested third party, but we are standing on the sidelines because we have a vested interest in it, but we are not the agency providing the oversight or regulations. i'm happy to work with you as well as continue the work that director kronenberg has done on it. it could result in additional revenue for our city. >> -- supervisor avalos: director kronenberg is going to

be here as well. >> their presentation is following mine, but i believe director kronenberg is out of town. you'll have me -- lee giving the presentation. he is very capable. director kronenberg will be here next week. i want to give you an overview of our hiring. we will be hiring level one emt's to come into the department july 9th. and in september, we're looking at a class of 42 coming in. it takes them are approximately seven weeks. that is a fairly quick turnaround. and the h2 academy, that is approximately 16 weeks. and with the holiday it could run into 17 weeks. and we're looking at the next fiscal year, hiring again a class of 42. like i said, we were thrilled

with the mayor's proposal. anything we can do to compress that six years down would have a positive outcome on the over -- on the expenditure. at the very latest we would want to bring in the next class in july. like i said, if we could compress it even further, we would like to do so. the next slide talks about mayor the's proposal to fund the fire academy for the next six years. we have come before you many times -- and initially it was counterintuitive to me, but we have relied heavily on overtime in the last six years. it is more fiscally efficient because you're not looking at fringe benefits. but it is resulting in having more mandatory overtime, which is not something that i feel

good about. as well as for recall and so forth, we need to begin to shore up our staffing. we are projecting approximately 190-200 retirements over the next five years. at this point, at this next class of 42 will pretty much get us back to even. we're hopeful that we can show that our overtime is coming down with the infusion of new employees. we're looking forward to that. supervisor avalos: a question on the mandatory overtime. i know our budget has worked where we have over time that covers some cost savings even though there is a high level of overtime because we are not paying benefits. as you just mentioned. but now we are at a state of mandatory overtime. but what does that mean exactly for every day firefighters? does that mean that everyone is on duty in every station with

mandatory overtime? how does that get worked out across the city? >> there is a methodology for people working in the field, which we have about 1365 people. because we rely heavily on overtime and have not been able to have classes for those who have lost their retirement, there is a mechanism by which they are held over. they do have an opportunity -- it runs per year. you can have a certain amount of refusals, i believe two during a year. but basically, we are having people stay over when they have not signed up to work overtime. supervisor avalos: what portion of the fire fighter force would be committed to mandatory overtime? is that every firefighter? >> every class. obviously, the largest class, the h-2 firefighter, is impacted

the most. it is burdensome on employees and their families. operationally, safety issues -- you know, to have it occasionally during a peak time, that is manageable. but now we are to the point where it is becoming of concern. supervisor avalos: who is on the list or not on the list for mandatory overtime? >> everyone who works in the field. from h-2 firefighter up to assistant fire chief. the likelihood of being selected is higher as you get to the lower rank. during the summer months, we are anticipating high amounts of mandatory overtime. and bringing the class in september, they will not be able to see the benefits of that until january. slowly, we should see some decline in now mandatory

overtime chairperson chu: before you move forward, i want to spend some time on your staffing issues so we are aware of in terms of the proposal for the hiring of the h-3's as well as the h-2, when would they come in? when would they be available? >> on july 9th, will bring in 30 level one emt's and it will be in academy for seven weeks and then be able to hit the streets in august. that will increase the percentage of ems transports. for the academy, the proposal is to begin in september for approximately 16 or 17 weeks of training. they will be on probation toward the latter part of this year and early part of next year. chairperson chu: in terms of actual folks, when you have the

h-2's go into training, they come out of academy and they are on probation for one year? >> correct. chairperson chu: when they're on probation, do they count toward your staffing level? >> yes, they do. chairperson chu: the idea that if we hire an academy class in september, we would not actually expect them to be able to staff and equipment until the end of the year? >> the end of the year or the very beginning of 2013, to begin to be part of that staffing account. chairperson chu: end of 2012, beginning of 2013, the count toward the staffing account? >> correct. chairperson chu: and the h- -- h-2 class will begin july 1st? >> yes. chairperson chu: when you talk about the number in the field,

is that how many h-2's to h- 50's we have? correct correct. chairperson chu: and those figure mandatory staffing levels. >> right, that are working every day. chairperson chu: and in terms of where you want that 1365 to go, let's just say that we do not have any class is coming in. in terms of retirement, where do you expect that to go? >> this slide gives you a snapshot of the last 10 years. we had 18 havret 45 full-time equivalents in 2002-03. compared to april with 1374 members. in the past five years we had approximately 1300 retirements. and i