April, 2001

Consolidation Review

You may have read or heard that the consolidation of the Rockford and Plainfield Fire Departments is being reviewed. The intent of the review is to determine several aspects of current and potential operations of the department. Those aspects include; the degree of success of the operation of the department, the administrative success of the consolidation, potential goals from a continued relationship, the options that are available to continue the relationship, and what is the next move. The options for the future include; continue operations as a consolidated entity by contract, form a more permanent relationship, or disband the consolidation and revert to two separate departments.

Both communities researched the current operation for nearly a year with the assistance of Emergency Services Consulting Group,(ESCG) a consulting company that is based in Oregon. A feasibility report was submitted by ESCG that recommended the initial consolidation. ESCG further recommended that a study of the alternatives for the formation of a single fire department should be developed and presented to the governing bodies with the goal in mind of merging into a single department. The merger recommendation includes the qualifier, if additional benefit for the communities could be derived. We have arrived at the point where we should make these decisions based upon the evaluations.

What advantages are there to operating a consolidated department? Quoting from ESCG’s 1996 report, “~ increased depth of coverage – more apparatus and personnel ~ improved efficiency – better utilization of available resources ~ improved support programs – fire prevention and training ~ Cost avoidance – fire station construction, purchase of apparatus, hiring of personnel, materials and services.” It has been my observation that these advantages are real. I also believe that we get a faster response and service implementation due to the consolidation. This may be another way of saying improved efficiency, but I emphasize it because time is so important when responding to emergencies.

What are the disadvantages to a consolidated department? A list of perceived disadvantages would include; loss of local control – the consolidated department is concerned with providing equal coverage for all 40 square miles, cost sharing – the contract has a cost sharing formula that some question, disparity of representation of the labor force – Rockford has non-union fulltime and paid on call (POC) firefighters who operate under Rockford’s personnel policies, while Plainfield has unionized full time employees operating under a contract and non-union POC who operate under the Township’s personnel rules, two sets of purchasing policies – there are two sets of purchasing policies with two different accounting systems utilized and loss of name recognition – very similar to the local control issue.

What are the advantages of a merged department? One set of personnel rules, one purchasing system, the ability to do long term planning, eliminates the need to have two elected bodies approve purchases or program changes that affect both communities and equal distribution of the cost over all properties.