HomeMy WebLinkAboutR-2021-127 Final Fire Assessment FeesRESOLUTION NO. 2021-127
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF DANIA
BEACH, FLORIDA, RELATING TO THE IMPOSITION OF FIRE RESCUE
ASSESSMENTS AND PROVISION OF FIRE PROTECTION SERVICES,
FACILITIES AND PROGRAMS IN THE CITY OF DANIA BEACH,
FLORIDA; CONFIRMING, SUPPLEMENTING, AND AMENDING THE
PRELIMINARY RATE RESOLUTION AND ADDING A NEW
DEFINITION; REIMPOSING FIRE RESCUE ASSESSMENTS WITH
UPDATED ASSESSMENT RATES AGAINST ASSESSED PROPERTY
LOCATED WITHIN THE CITY OF DANIA BEACH FOR THE FISCAL
YEAR BEGINNING OCTOBER 1, 2021; APPROVING THE RATES OF
ASSESSMENT; APPROVING THE FINAL ASSESSMENT ROLL;
PROVIDING FOR EFFECT OF ADOPTION OF RESOLUTION;
PROVIDING FOR CONFLICTS; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; AND
PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
WHEREAS, the City of Dania Beach, Florida, (City) enacted Ordinance No. 10-96
(Ordinance) which authorizes the imposition of Fire Rescue Assessments for fire protection
services, facilities, and programs against Assessed Property located within the City; and
WHEREAS, the reimposition of a Fire Rescue Assessment for fire protection
services, facilities, and programs each fiscal year is an equitable and efficient method of
allocating and apportioning the Fire Assessed Cost among parcels of Assessed Property; and
WHEREAS, the City desires to reimpose a Fire Rescue Assessment within the City
using the procedures provided by the Ordinance, including the tax bill collection method for
the Fiscal Year beginning on October 1, 2021; and
WHEREAS, the City Commission, on July 13, 2021, adopted Resolution No. 2021-112
(2021 Preliminary Rate Resolution) as confirmed, supplemented, and amended herein,
containing and referencing a brief and general description of the fire protection facilities,
services and programs to be provided to Assessed Property, describing the method of
apportioning the Fire Assessed Cost to compute the Fire Rescue Assessment for fire protection
services, facilities, and programs against Assessed Property, updating and estimating a rate of
assessment, and directing the updating and preparation of the Assessment Roll, and provision of
published notice and mailed notice required by the Ordinance; and
WHEREAS, in order to reimpose Fire Rescue Assessments for the Fiscal Year
beginning October 1, 2021, the Ordinance requires the City Commission during its budget
adoption process for each Fiscal Year to adopt an Annual Rate Resolution which establishes
the rate of assessment and approves the Assessment Roll for the upcoming Fiscal Year, with
such amendments as the City Commission deems appropriate, after hearing comments and
objections of all interested parties; and
WHEREAS, the updated Assessment Roll has heretofore been made available for
inspection by the public, as required by the Ordinance; and
WHEREAS, notice of a public hearing has been published and mailed as required by the
terms of the Ordinance and Florida Statutes; and
WHEREAS, a public hearing was held on September 13, 2021, and comments and
objections of all interested persons have been heard and considered as required by the terms
of the Ordinance; and
WHEREAS, the City Commission of the City of Dania Beach, Florida deems it to be
in the best interest of the citizens and residents of the City to adopt this Annual Resolution.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COMMISSION OF
THE CITY OF DANIA BEACH, FLORIDA:
Section 1. Authority. That this Resolution is adopted pursuant to the provisions of
Ordinance No. 10-96 (Ordinance) (codified as Chapter 23, Article VIII of the City of Dania
Beach Code of Ordinances), the Initial Assessment Resolution (Resolution No. 63-96, also
referred to as Resolution No. 1996-63); the Final Assessment Resolution (Resolution No. 72-
96, also referred to as Resolution No. 1996-72); and all subsequent Fire Assessment
Resolutions, including Resolution No. 2021-112; and Florida Statutes Chapter 170 and
Sections 166.021 and 166.041, and other applicable provisions of law.
Section 2. Definitions and Interpretation. That this Resolution constitutes the
Annual Rate Resolution as defined in the Ordinance and may be referred to as the 2021
Annual Resolution or Annual Resolution. All capitalized terms in this Resolution shall have
the meanings defined in the Ordinance, the Initial Assessment Resolution, as amended, the
Final Assessment Resolution, as amended, subsequent Preliminary and Annual Resolutions,
as amended, and the 2021 Preliminary Rate Resolution (Resolution No. 2021-112), as may be
amended by this 2021 Annual Resolution. Resolution No. 2021-112 is hereby amended by
adding the following new term as a new subsection (f) to Section 2:
2 RESOLUTION #2021-127
(f) "2021 Final Methodology Report", "2021 Final Report", or
"August 2021 Final Methodology Report" means the technical memorandum
titled "City of Dania Beach, Florida Final Fire Services Assessment Methodology
Report", prepared by Munilytics, Inc., dated August 31, 2021. Such 2021 Final
Methodology Report, attached and incorporated within this Resolution as Exhibit
A, supplements and provides additional information related to the calculation of
the assessment rates presented in the 2021 Report dated July 8, 2021, approved by
the 2021 Preliminary Resolution, and finally adopted in this 2021 Annual
Resolution.
Section 3. Reimposition of Fire Rescue Assessments.
(a) The parcels of Assessed Property described in the Assessment Roll, as updated,
which is hereby amended as needed and approved, are hereby found to be specially benefited
by the provision of the fire protection services, facilities, and programs described or referenced
in the Preliminary Rate Resolution, in the amount of the Fire Rescue Assessment set forth in
the updated Assessment Roll, a copy of which was present or available for inspection at the
above referenced public hearing and is incorporated herein by reference. It is hereby
ascertained, determined, and declared that each parcel of Assessed Property within the City will
be specially benefited by the City's provision of fire protection services, facilities, and
programs in an amount not less than the Fire Rescue Assessment for such parcel, computed
in the manner set forth in the 2021 Preliminary Rate Resolution. the 2021 Report, and the
2021 Final Report, as approved and incorporated into this 2021 Annual Resolution.
Adoption of this 2021 Annual Rate Resolution constitutes a legislative determination that all
parcels assessed derive a special benefit in a manner consistent with the legislative
declarations, determinations and findings as set forth in the Ordinance, the Initial Assessment
Resolution, as amended, the Final Assessment Resolution, as amended, and the subsequent
Preliminary and Annual Rate Resolutions, as amended and supplemented by the 2021
Preliminary Resolution and this 2021 Annual Resolution, from the fire protection services,
facilities, or programs to be provided and a legislative determination that the Fire Rescue
Assessments are fairly and reasonably apportioned among the properties that receive the special
benefit.
3 RESOLUTION #2021-127
(b) The method for computing Fire Rescue Assessments and the Parcel
Apportionment methodology referenced in the 2021 Report, approved and incorporated into
the 2021 Preliminary Rate Resolution adopted by the City Commission, and the 2021 Final
Report, as approved and incorporated into this 2021 Annual Resolution, is hereby approved
and reaffirmed. The Fire Rescue Assessments to be assessed and apportioned among benefited
parcels pursuant to the Cost Apportionment and Parcel Apportionment to generate the
estimated Fire Assessed Cost for the Fiscal Year commencing October 1, 2021, are hereby
established as follows:
FY2021-22 Fire Rescue Assessment Rates
PROPERTY USE
CATEGORIES
RATE BASIS
RATE
Residential
Per Dwelling Unit
$267.94
Vacant
Per Acre
$ 93.88
Commercial
Per Square Foot
$0.3815
Industrial/Warehouse
Per Square Foot
$0.0310
(c) The above rates of assessment are hereby finally approved. Fire Rescue
Assessments for fire protection services, facilities, and programs in the amounts set forth in the
updated Assessment Roll, as herein amended and approved, are hereby levied and reimposed on
all parcels of Assessed Property described in such Assessment Roll for the Fiscal Year
beginning October 1, 2021.
(d) No Fire Rescue Assessment shall be imposed upon a parcel of Government
Property or upon Buildings the use of which is wholly exempt from ad valorem taxation under
Florida law. Any shortfall in the expected Fire Rescue Assessment proceeds due to any
reduction or exemption from payment of the Fire Rescue Assessments required by law or
authorized by the City Commission shall be supplemented by any legally available funds, or
combination of such funds, and shall not be paid for by proceeds or funds derived from the
Fire Rescue Assessments.
4 RESOLUTION #2021-127
(e) As authorized in Sec. 23-107, City of Dania Beach Code of Ordinances, Interim
Fire Rescue Assessments are also levied and imposed against all property for which a certificate
of occupancy is issued after adoption of this Annual Rate Resolution based upon the rates of
assessment approved in this Resolution.
(f) Fire Rescue Assessments shall constitute a lien upon the Assessed Property so
assessed equal in rank and dignity with the liens of all state, county, district, or municipal taxes
and other non -ad valorem assessments. Except as otherwise provided by law, such lien shall
be superior in dignity to all other liens, titles, and claims until paid.
(g) The Assessment Roll, as herein approved, together with the correction of any
errors or omissions as provided for in the Ordinance, shall be delivered to the Tax Collector for
collection using the tax bill collection method in the manner prescribed by the Ordinance.
Section 4. Amendment and Confirmation of Preliminary Rate Resolution and
Methodology Report. That the 2021 Preliminary Rate Resolution, as may have been
modified, supplemented, and amended herein, is hereby confirmed.
Section 5. Effect of Adoption of Resolution. That the adoption of this 2021
Annual Rate Resolution shall be the final adjudication of the issues presented (including, but
not limited to, the determination of special benefit and fair apportionment to the Assessed
Property, the method of apportionment and assessment, the rate of assessment, the Assessment
Roll, the sufficiency of notice, and the levy and lien of the Fire Rescue Assessments), unless
proper steps shall be initiated in a court of competent jurisdiction to secure relief within 20
days from the adoption of this 2021 Annual Rate Resolution.
Section 6. Conflict. That all resolutions or part of resolutions in conflict with this
Resolution are superseded and supplanted to the extent of such conflict, provided however,
that nothing in this Resolution amends or affects the validity of any Fire Protection
Assessments adopted and imposed by any previously adopted resolutions.
Section 7. Severability. That if any clause, section or other part of this Resolution
shall be held by any court of competent jurisdiction to be unconstitutional or invalid, such
unconstitutional or invalid part shall be considered as eliminated and in no way affecting the
validity of the other provisions of this Resolution.
Section 8. Effective Date. That this Annual Rate Resolution shall be in force and
take effect immediately upon its passage and adoption.
5 RESOLUTION #2021-127
PASSED AND ADOPTED on September 13, 2021.
ATTEST:
I
THOMAS SCHNEIDER, CMC
CITY CLERK
AMARA J
A, �O� MAYOR
APPROVED AS TO FORRECTNESS:
i
THOMAS J. ANSBRO .
CITY ATTORNEY
6 RESOLUTION #2021-127
EXHIBIT A
City of Dania Beach, Florida
Final Fire Services Assessment
Methodology Report
Prepared for the
City of Dania Beach, Florida
August 31, 2021
Executive Summary
This report updates the City of Dania Beach's ("the City") methodology and apportionment
of costs associated with fire services provided by the City to its residents and businesses.
Fire services are part of the total fire rescue service budget and it is only the fire portion of
that budget that can be assessed to property owners. Emergency medical service costs,
because they cannot be demonstrated to benefit property, are not assessable. The purpose
of this report is to forecast the cost of fire services and apportion those costs to the
properties benefiting from the City's fire service efforts.
The report details how the costs are determined, how they are apportioned, and what the
maximum rates to various property categories would be if the full amount of fire service
costs is recovered through an assessment on the benefited property. The City has
traditionally levied less than 100% of the assessable costs. The annual costs to be assessed
will need to be determined annually by the City based upon the budgeted costs for fire
services for the year. This report will guide those annual assessment costs, typically set
during the each year's budget cycle. This report uses as a base the proposed fire rescue
fiscal year 2022 estimated budget. The apportionment of those costs relied upon actual
call data for fire/rescue calls during calendar years 2016 through 2020.
Since the last study, call distribution has noticeably changed, probably due to the extensive
new development in the City.
Introduction
The City of Dania Beach ("the City") has annually levied and collected a Fire Assessment
against benefitted properties within the City to fund the provision of fire services beginning
with Fiscal Year 1996-1997, The City is considering the continuance of an assessment
program for Fire Services (the "Fire Services").
Fire call data can change from time -to -time and evaluations need to be done by the City to
insure costs are being fairly apportioned to benefited property.
The City has previously determined that the owners of property benefited by the proposed
Fire Services should share in funding these services by imposition of non -ad valorem
assessments. The City can fund through assessments up to 100% of the net Fire Services
costs, estimated to be $7,399,112 in fiscal year 2022, as noted in Appendix A, Forecast of
City of Dania Beach Fire Service Costs. The City contracts with the Broward Sheriffs Office
(BSO) for fire rescue services and also has legacy pension costs that must continue to be
funded in addition to those pension costs charged by BSO.
Procedural Requirements
The Florida Statutes contain a number of procedural requirements that define the process
for adoption of the proposed Fire Services Assessments. Additionally, the City has adopted
local legislation to provide general procedures and standards for the imposition of annual
fire assessments.
The City may collect the assessments by direct mailing of bills to each assessed property or,
if additional statutory requirements are or have been fulfilled, may collect the assessments
on the annual property tax bill under the Uniform Assessment Collection Act, Section
197.3632, Florida Statutes. Regardless of the method of collection the City may use, the
adoption of the Final Assessment Roll and Final Assessment Resolution shall place a lien
equal to the amount of the total assessment, including interest, on each assessed property.
Such lien is equal in rank and dignity to the lien of all state, county, district, and municipal
taxes and other non -ad valorem assessments.
Estimated Cost of Fire Services
The City provides a full -service fire rescue department through a contract with BSO. At the
time of this report, the City operated 2 fire stations. The contract with BSO also provides
for fire inspection services. All other costs were deemed to not be within the confines of
the assessment process. The net total cost of fire services estimated for fiscal year 2022 is
estimated to be $7,399,112, as noted in Appendix A, Forecast of City of Dania Beach Fire
Service. The costs have then been reduced by revenues related to the fire protection
functions, which serves to reduce the cost of providing the service.
Appendix A details the annual forecast of costs the City is expected to incur through fiscal
year 2025.
The Fire Services costs can include, but are not limited to:
1. The cost of physical construction, reconstruction, or completion of any required
facility or improvement.
2. The costs incurred in any required acquisition or purchase.
3. The cost of all labor, materials, machinery and equipment.
4. The cost of fuel, parts, supplies, maintenance, repairs, and utilities.
S. The cost of computer services, data processing, and communications.
6. The cost of all lands and interest therein, leases, property rights, easements, and
franchises of any nature whatsoever.
7. The cost of any indemnity or surety bonds and premiums for insurance.
8. The cost of salaries, volunteer pay, workers compensation, insurance, or other
employment benefits.
9. The cost of uniforms, training, travel and per diem.
10. The cost of construction plans and specifications, surveys, and estimates of costs.
11. The cost of engineering, financial, legal, and other professional services.
12. The costs of compliance with any contracts or agreements entered into by the City
to provide or obtain Fire Services.
13. All costs associated with the structure, implementation, collection, and enforcement
of the Fire Services charges and amounts necessary to offset discounts received for
early payment of Fire Services charges.
14. All other costs and expenses necessary or incidental to the acquisition provision or
construction of Fire Services, facilities, or programs and such other expenses as may
be necessary or incidental to any related financing authorized by the City
Commission by subsequent resolution.
4
15. A reasonable amount for contingency and anticipated delinquencies and
uncollectible Fire Services charges.
16. Reimbursement to the City or any other person for any moneys advanced for any
costs incurred by the City or such person in connection with any of the foregoing
components of Fire Services cost.
17. Any other cost that can be attributed to the provision of Fire Services within the
City.
The City may choose to include all or only some of these costs so long as the total cost assessed
does not exceed the actual cost of providing the service.
As noted earlier, these costs are further reduced by revenue attributed to Fire Services.
The City expects to receive $781,000 in FY2022 from fire services related revenue that has
been forecasted and applied to reduce the expected fire services cost for that year.
5
Determination of Benefit & Delineation of Benefit Area
An important step in the assessment process is the determination of benefit and
delineating the geographic area that will benefit from the Fire Services (the "Benefit Area").
The proposed Fire Services will service all properties within the entire City of Dania Beach.
These Fire Services will, by their nature, provide direct benefit to the properties that will
have these services. Though vacant lands not used actively in the production of
agricultural products and services may infrequently have Fire Services provided to them,
the City has determined that Fire Services provided to those lands derive some benefit to
them, due to the urbanized nature of the City. A review of the call data for calendar years
2016 through 2022 also noted that these types of calls were infrequent, but did occur.
The Benefit Area for the City of Dania Beach Fire Services assessments includes all such
properties within the City. The parcels are identified by the unique Folio Number assigned
by the Broward County Property Appraiser (BCPA) for purposes of the ad valorem
property tax roll, as shown on the Preliminary Assessment Roll and more fully described
below.
Cost Allocation Methodology
Using the BCPA's tax roll data, benefited parcels were identified using the various
categories of land use codes within that data set. Additionally, and to keep the proposed
apportionment categories as close to the existing categories as possible, we relied upon the
Fire Class codes currently maintained by the BCPA. The BCPA has previously identified and
coded the improved properties by type and assigned each parcel an appropriate Fire Class
Code. We reviewed consistency in this data and it was determined to be of high accuracy.
This data has also undergone considerable review over time. The Fire Class codes thus
used were as follows:
Residential ("R") This includes all residential dwelling units, be they
single family, multifamily, mobile homes, or mobile home lots. This
includes separate or attached guest houses or "granny flats" or
anything considered a residential dwelling unit.
Commercial ("C") This includes all property used for commercial
activity, except where otherwise identified by its own Fire Class code,
and includes office and retail uses. It also includes recreational vehicle
lots converted to a commercial square footage as provided by statute.
Government ("X") This includes any property owned by a federal,
state, or local government.
Special ("S", and generally mixed use) This includes property that
has more than one use or improvement that contains more than one
Fire Class code. An example might be a parcel which contained both a
warehouse and an office use. Each use will be assigned the cost for
that use.
Vacant Parcels Not Developed ("V", "A", or "L") This includes land
that does not contain any improvement or structure but does not
include property classified as agricultural.
Warehouse/Industrial ("W") This includes manufacturing and
processing sites, storage units (whether for commercial or non-
commercial purposes), and warehousing sites.
Miscellaneous ("Y") This includes properties that are used for
Charitable, Educational, Literary, Scientific, or Religious organizations,
or other properties defined under Florida Statutes. These properties
may be assessed or may be excluded by the City from year -to- year.
Though the BCPA differentiates in their database and for their purposes the Government
("X") and Miscellaneous ("Y") fire class codes, for purposes of this study, those codes and
uses are combined because they are very similar in use and occupancy, involving a large
number of public assembly uses. It should also be noted that properties that can
sometimes be exempt from this assessment (e.g., church -owned residential properties,
portions of warehouses used for exempt purposes, portions of office buildings used for
exempt purposes) remain classified as "R", "C", "W", etc., but are not assessed if the City has
excluded them from the assessment. Again, these codes are used by BCPA to assist them in
the administration of their rolls and we believe them to be highly accurate at the parcel
level.
The vacant parcels and vacant lots ("Vacant", "Acreage", or "Land") contain properties that
fire call data demonstrated had little demand. Nonetheless, the City has determined that
vacant parcels do receive a special benefit and will be assessed.
Each BCPA parcel for the City of Dania Beach also has, in addition to a Fire Class code, a Fire
Basis element, which indicates the number of applicable billing units located on the parcel
For example, a single-family residential dwelling unit would have a Fire Basis element of
"1", indicating that the fixed residential assessment rate would be multiplied by "1" to
arrive at an assessment amount and a duplex residential dwelling unit would have a Fire
Basis element of "2", indicating that the fixed residential assessment rate would be
multiplied by "2" to arrive at an assessment amount, and so on. Commercial,
Warehouse/Industrial, and Not -for -profit are based upon the square footage of the
property. Land, Vacant, or Acreage are based upon the number or fraction of an acre for
the parcel. The Fire Class code "S", Special, generally includes mixed -use parcels that have
mixed assessment rates applied to them. The sum of each category (e.g., "Residential",
"Commercial", etc.) are added together within this coding. The Fire Basis element code in
this Fire Class code in this category indicates the amount of the assessment for that Fire
Class code. The BCPA handles mixed -use parcels as exceptions and manually calculates
the assessment based upon the particular mix of uses that exist on those parcels.
Mobile Home parks are assessed whether or not a lot/space is occupied. Each mobile home
lot/space is assessed a residential assessment rate. The commercial component of a
mobile home park may include a calculation based on the total of any commercial
structures located on the parcel plus an assigned commercial structure size of the
minimum square footage of 1,200 square feet that is mandated by the Department of
Health under Chapter 64E-15.002(3), Florida Administrative Code for Recreational Vehicle
Park spaces and a square footage of 500 square feet for tent spaces inside Recreational
Vehicle Parks, also as mandated by Chapter 64E-15.002(3), Florida Administrative Code.
The City does not have any parks that have only recreational vehicles. Mobile home parks
are mixed -use parcels.
There were 13,952 unique parcels or folio numbers within the City of Dania Beach fire
assessment district provided to us by the BCPA in July 2021. After eliminating properties
owned by governmental units (for which costs were not reapportioned to other parcels), or
parcels such as rights -of -way and waterways, we identified a maximum of 13,229 parcels
that could potentially be assessed. The parcel counts by BCPA Fire Class category code and
use code counts appear below:
BCPA Fire Class Counts
Sum of Total
Category
Unit of
Fire Class Category
Number of
Code(s)
Measure
Units
Commercial C
LandNacant Land/Acreage LN/A
Residential R
Warehouse/Industrial W
Government/Not For Profit Exempt X/Y
6,169,741 Square Feet
733 Acres
15,513
Dwelling Units
5,109,093
Square Feet
1,459,422
Square Feet
The City may not ultimately assess all the properties within these fire class categories for
Fire Services as the City traditionally has exempted some uses (e.g., non -profits, houses of
worship, and other properties also exempt from property taxes) of property from the fire
assessment. Commercial, Warehouse/Industrial, and, if levied, Not -for -profit parcels are
assessed based upon tranches, or ranges of square footage. The parcels are divided into
categories that are measured as factors of the base unit to the midpoint of each range.
Fire/rescue Incidents
Fire/rescue call for service data is maintained by the Broward Sheriffs Office (BSO). BSO
provided call data related to the City of Dania Beach for calendar years 2016 through 2020.
The call data included all dispatched calls for all fire and rescue units at each of the City's
five stations. The call data contained fire service calls, calls for rescue services, and all
other calls. Because rescue services do not benefit property, this call data (Appendix B)
was culled from further consideration, leaving only fire service call data in our analysis.
We also excluded from the call data calls to property that was located outside of the City
limits.
The Broward Sheriffs Office uses the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) for
the collection and categorization of all fire and rescue incident types. This system provides
not only the nature of the call responded to but also includes the type of property involved
in the call. This data forms the basis for determining not only which properties benefit
from fire services, but also to what degree those types of properties demand service. While
evaluating the call data, we exercised discretion in reclassifying certain incidents that we
determined, for the purposes of this study, needed to be reclassified to accurately tie it to
the most appropriate property use. As an example, an automobile fire in a parking lot at a
shopping center would be reclassified from "uncovered parking" to a commercial use as the
parking lot is considered to be part of the shopping center parcel.
During the three-year period (calendar years 2018 through 2020) studied, the City of Dania
Beach had a total of 5,297 recorded incidents of which 3,974 were non -fire related calls
(generally rescue calls) not benefitting real property in the City. The remaining 1,323
were deemed to be fire -related. After eliminating mutual aid fire calls, calls that could not
be ascribed to a particular property use (fires on streets and roads, waterways, etc), the
remaining 1,040 calls were attributable to the various Fire Class categories. Calls were
categorized into the two main categories (Fire and Rescue) based upon the Incident Type
Number used in the NFIRS coding system. Also placed into the "Rescue" category, and
excluded from fire calls, were calls that were not clearly fire related, or did not clearly
benefit real property, or the address/location were indeterminate. Mutual aid calls were
excluded because they did not benefit Dania Beach properties. A list of the types of calls
excluded from consideration of Fire Services apportionment is detailed in Appendix B,
Excluded Calls From Fire Services.
10
The incident data also includes a "Property Use" code. These codes were then aggregated
into larger Property Type codes that could be used to match more closely to the BCPA Fire
Class Codes used for fire assessments. The following table details the 1,040 fire service
incidents by the categories used to study fire service delivery and their corresponding
BCPA Fire Class codes:
Number of
Percent of
Fire Class
Category
Attributed Fire
Total
Calls
R
Residenital
C
Commercial
W
Warehouse/Industrial
A
Acreage
Y
Not For Profit
X
Government
604
58.08%
342
32.88%
23
2.21%
10
0.96%
43
4.13%
18
1.73%
1,040
100.00%
The detail of and cross tabulation of this categorization appears in Appendix C, Translation
of NFIRS Property Use Code To BCPA Fire Class Code. We then recoded the Fire Department
incident data, Property Type codes, to the BCPA Fire Class coding. We then assigned the
maximum assessment by category and in total for the City of Dania Beach and the expected
cost of fire service delivery for fiscal year 2022 as noted in Appendix A, Forecast of City of
Dania Beach Fire Service Costs:
11
Fiscal Year 2022 Anticipated Fire Services Cost and Fire Cost Apportionment
Maximum In
Fire Class
Category
Distribution
Category
R
Residenital
C
Commercial
W
Warehouse/Industrial
A
Acreage
Y
Not For Profit
X
Government
58.08%
4,297,177
32.88%
2,433,170
2.21%
163,634
0.96%
71,145
1.73%
128,062
4.13%
305,925
100%
7,399,112
It should also be noted that the tables have been developed using the latest property
information supplied by the Broward County Property Appraiser's Office. The actual unit
counts that exist from year-to-year will need to be used in developing the annual rates.
The preceding table includes houses of worship, not -for -profits, and other properties that
are wholly or partially tax-exempt. Historically, the City exempts these uses from the fire
assessment, but they may consider including them at a future date.
As noted previously, the City has determined to assess a maximum Fire Service cost based
upon the projected fiscal year 2022 net costs of $7,399,112. The actual cost from year-to-
year to be levied by the City will be based upon its actual costs for that fiscal year.
The following tables apportion the category costs to the various units for each category,
excepting the not -for -profit category, which the City has elected not to assess. A unit may
be a dwelling unit (in the case of residential), a square footage charge, or an acreage charge
(for vacant):
(continued)
12
FY2022 Maximum Rates
Unit
Assessed
Category
Units
Unit Type
Allocation
Amount
Residential
Vacant/Acreage
Commercial
Industrial Warehouse
Less: Exempt Properties
Total Assessable
Not For Profit
Government
Exempt Properties
Total Fire Service Costs
15,513
4,297,177.00
733
71,145.00
6,169,741
2,433,170.00
5,109,093
163,634.00
(38,341.08)
6,926,784.92
128,062.00
305,925.00
38,341.08
7,399,113.00
13
277.00 per dwelling unit
97.06 per acre
0.3944 per square foot
0.0320 per square foot
Allocation of Assessable and Non -Assessable Costs
The City utilizes personnel who are certified firefighters that may also be qualified medical
personnel. Personnel assigned to medical units may also be called upon to assist in
firefighting duties. Because emergency medical services (EMS) are not services for which
the City can assess property, costs for those services cannot be included in the total fire
services costs to determine the allowable assessed costs. Mutual aid services provided by
other Fire Departments do not cost the City anything and those calls accordingly are not
considered in this assessment.
ALLOCATIONS
BSO provides the City with an annual "Consideration" budget that becomes the contract
cost for the ensuing fiscal year. The budget is for fire, rescue, inspection, and
administrative costs of providing fire rescue services. Additionally, the City has costs in
addition to its contract with BSO. When BSO took over fire rescue operations from the City,
it was left with significant legacy pension costs related to its former employees that still
must be funded. Similarly, the City must fund those employees share of the City's other
post -employment benefits (generally retiree medical costs). The City must also pay for the
costs of administering the assessment itself. These costs include legal and professional
fees, notification fees from the property appraiser's office, advertising, and discounts
allowed on early payments of property tax bills. Of the sum of these costs, only those costs
directly attributable or allocated to fire services can be included in the assessment.
The remaining costs relate to the combined fire and rescue services and must be allocated
between the operations of those two services. While there are many ways to allocate the
costs of these services, we have chosen to allocate them in proportion to the staffing of the
apparatus types deployed by BSO. Fire rescue budgets are largely driven by personnel
costs. Fire costs are largely driven by insuring standby availability in the event of a fire. If
no calls for rescue were ever recorded, a fire department budget would still have large
fixed costs for firefighting services. The total cost for firefighting services generally will not
change by very much for a range of calls for services. Unlike firefighting services, rescue
services usually account for a significant amount of the calls for service to a department.
While this puts more workload on those personnel assigned to rescue vehicles, the costs of
rescue services are largely fixed over a range of calls for service. While there is more
14
variability in certain operational costs such as medical supplies, those variable costs do not
account for a meaningful portion of total costs. Accordingly, we believe that the fairest
apportionment method is one that utilizes apparatus -based personnel assignments. BSO
operates two Quints and two rescue vehicles. The Quints each require three personnel
each shift. One of the rescue units (Rescue 1) maintains three personnel per shift, while the
other (Rescue 17) staffs two personnel per shift. BSO maintains one battalion chief per
shift, which, for purposes of this allocation, has been presumed to be allocated in
proportion to the staffing between fire and rescue services. The following table illustrates
this approach:
Allocation Percentages Between Fire and Rescue
Apparatus Personnel Assigned ` Fire Rescue
Quint 1 3 3
Quint 17 3 3
Rescue 1 3 3
Rescue 17 2 2
11 54.55% 45.45%
We benchmarked this against the prior study that utilized an "effort allocation" approach.
That allocation technique uses an average duration of the type of call for service (Fire
versus Non -fire), then weights that for the number of apparatus and personnel assigned to
a typical call for service to determine a "resource factor". This resource factor is then
weighted for the number of calls to reach an "effort allocation". This effort allocation
becomes the basis for apportioning combined costs to fire and rescue services. In that
approach in the prior study, the percentage of costs allocated to fire services was 52.52%,
compared to the 54.55% reached by our approach. Both approaches provide a reasonable
and similar allocation of costs. The "effort allocation" approach, while reasonable in its
approach, requires a re -study of call data each time either the number of apparatus or the
number of assigned personnel change. The staffing approach provides an easier to
administer, but still reasonable, approach to cost allocation.
The administrative costs of the shift battalion chiefs have been apportioned between fire
and non -fire costs. It is reasonable to assume that the administrative costs of management
bear a direct relationship to the number of personnel being managed.
15
Benefit and Fair Apportionment
The improved properties in the City are found to benefit from a special assessment because fire
services, facilities, and programs possess a logical relationship to the use and enjoyment of
property by: (i) protecting the value and integrity of improvements, structures, and land through
the availability and provision of comprehensive fire services; (ii) protecting the life and safety of
intended occupants in the use and enjoyment of property; (iii) lowering the cost of fire insurance
by the presence of a professional and comprehensive fire program; and (iv) containing fire
incidents occurring on land and within miscellaneous buildings with the potential to spread and
endanger other property and property features. Further, the availability and provision of
comprehensive fire services enhance and strengthen the relationship of such services to the use
and enjoyment of the parcels of property, the market perception of the area, and the property and
rental values within the assessable area.
The costs of the assessment have been fairly apportioned. While there can be many ways to fairly
apportion the costs of the fire services to benefited properties, we note the following:
Apportioning costs among classifications of property based upon the historical demand for fire
rescue services is a fair and reasonable method because it reflects the property uses' potential
fire risk based upon building use and is a reasonable proxy for the firefighters training and
experience, quantity and size of apparatus, and other special firefighting equipment that must be
available in accordance with the City's standards and practices. It is fair and reasonable to
allocate costs to any particular non-residential structure without any limit to the square footage
of a structure as large buildings require more resources and more value of property benefits from
fire protection. It is fair and reasonable to not consider the flow capacity of fire apparatus as a
limiting factor to fire protection as larger buildings will have fire flows provided independent of
the apparatus cumulative pumping capacity. The amount of personnel engaged in firefighting
increases with building size and personnel costs are the largest costs in fire protection. Buildings
cannot be permitted for construction if a local government cannot provide adequate fire
protection at the time they are ready for occupancy. Accordingly, we have removed tranches
from earlier studies and have determined that limits on the size of structures may shift the cost
burden to owners of smaller structures.
Apportioning costs among classifications of property (Fire Class code) based upon both historical
demand for fire rescue services is fair and reasonable and proportional to the special benefit
M
received, and will ensure that no property is assessed an amount greater than the special benefit
received.
Apportioning the percentage of the fire services assessed costs relating to historical calls for
service among classifications of property (Fire Class code) is fair and reasonable because it
reflects the property uses' potential fire risk based upon use and is a reasonable proxy for the
number of firefighters, the firefighters training and experience, the quantity and size of
apparatus, and other special firefighting equipment that must be available in accordance with the
City's standards and practices.
The fire rescue incident reports (NFIRS) are the most reliable data available to determine the
potential demand for fire services from property use and to determine the benefit to property use
resulting from the demand for fire services to protect and serve buildings and land located within
assessed property and their intended occupants. There exist sufficient fire incident reports that
document the historical demand for fire services from assessed property within the property use
categories. The relative demand that has been determined for each property use category by an
examination of such fire incident reports is consistent with the experience of the City. Therefore,
the use of the relative percentages that were determined by an examination of fire rescue
incident reports is a fair and reasonable method to apportion the fire services assessed costs
among the property use categories (Fire Class codes).
Neither the size nor the value of the residential property determines the scope of the required
fire response by the City. The potential demand for fire services is driven by the existence of a
dwelling unit and the anticipated average occupant population.
Apportioning the percentage of the fire services assessed costs relating to the relative demand for
fire services attributable to residential property on a per dwelling unit basis (Fire Basis) is
required to avoid cost inefficiency and unnecessary administration and is a fair and reasonable
method of parcel apportionment based upon historical call data.
The separation of non-residential property buildings by actual square footage (Fire Basis) is fair
and reasonable for the purpose of parcel apportionment for the relative demand because the
demand for fire service is determined and measured by the actual square footage of structures
and improvements within benefited parcels. The greater the building area, the greater the
potential for a large fire and the greater the amount of firefighting resources that must be
17
available in the event of a fire in a structure of that building's size. It is fair and reasonable to
correlate a building's benefit directly to a building's size, without limit.
Based upon the historical demand for fire protection services, the percentages of the City's total
fire protection assessable costs attributable to vacant non-agricultural properties were calculated.
The costs attributable to parcels were divided by the number of acres (Fire Basis) associated with
parcels in the Vacant category to compute the fire assessment rate per acre. An acreage charge is
a fair and reasonable allocation.
For residential parcels that contain non-residential buildings, non-residential improvements
located on the parcel were treated according to their non-residential property use category and
size to compute the parcel's non-residential fire protection assessment. This assessment was then
added to the parcel's residential fire services assessment. For non-residential parcels that contain
a residence, the number of dwelling units by type located on the parcel was multiplied by the rate
per dwelling unit to compute the parcel's residential fire services assessment. This assessment
was then added to the parcel's non-residential fire services assessment. For agricultural parcels
that contain a residence or non-residential building, the parcel was assessed for the actual number
of dwelling units by type located on the parcel and/or the appropriate assessment for the non-
residential building square footage. The property used for agricultural purposes was not assessed.
We believe that the apportionment methodology prepared here is fair and reasonable and benefits
the property that will be assessed and that it fits the particular properties in and nature of the City
of Dania Beach.
F. j
APPENDIX A
FORECAST OF CITY OF DANIA BEACH FIRE SERVICE COSTS
City of Dania Beach
Development of Assessable Fire Service Costs
Projected Fiscaly Years 2021-2025
FY2021
FY2022
FY2023
FY2024
FY2025
Expenditures
Broward Sheriff's Office
13,751,931
14,311,327
14,955,337
15,628,327
16,331,602
Less: EMS Costs
(130,000)
(130,000)
(135,850)
(141,963)
(148,352)
City Fire Costs
4,954,973
248,000
259,160
270,822
283,009
Total Net Fire Costs Before
Allocation
18,576,904
14,429,327
15,078,647
15,757,186
16,466,259
Other City Operating Expenses
5,000
5,000
5,000
5,000
5,000
Property Appraiser and Tax
Collector Fees
7,226
7,443
7,666
7,896
8,133
Advertisements
6,500
6,500
6,500
6,500
6,500
Legal and Professional Fees
25,000
6,000
6,000
6,000
6,000
OPEB Costs
-
-
-
-
-
Total Forecasted
18,620,630
14,454,270
15,103,813
15,782,582
16,491,892
Percentage Allocated To Fire
54.55%
54.55%
54.55%
54.55%
54.55%
Assessable Fire Costs
10,156,707
7,884,147
8,238,443
8,608,681
8,995,577
Less: Attributed Revenues
Revenues
Impact Fees
-
-
-
-
-
False Alarms
1,000
1,000
1,000
1,000
1,000
Hazmat Permit Fees
30,000
30,000
30,000
30,000
30,000
Fire Inspection Fees
490,274
750,000
776,250
803,419
831,538
Total Attributed Revenues
521,274
781,000
807,250
834,419
862,538
Net Assessable Fire Costs
9,635,433
7,103,147
7,431,193
7,774,262
8,133,039
Assessment Discounts
401,476
295,964
309,633
323,928
338,877
Special Assessments, Gross
10,036,910
7,399,112
7,740,826
8,098,190
8,471,916
19
APPENDIX B
EXCLUDED CALLS FROM FIRE SERVICES
NFIRS
Incident NIFIRS Incident Type Description
Type Code
300 Health care, detention, & correction, other
321 Mental retardation/development disability facility
322 Alcohol or substance abuse recovery center
323 Asylum, mental institution
324 Motor vehicle accident with no injuries
331 Hospital - medical or psychiatric
342 Doctor, dentist or oral surgeon office
350 Extrication, rescue, other
352 Extrication of victim(s) from vehicle
357 Extrication of victim(s) from machinery
360 Water and ice -related rescue, other
361 Jail, prison (not juvenile)
363 Reformatory, juvenile detention center
365 Police station
381 Rescue or EMS standby
460 Dormitory -type residence, other
463 Vehicle accident, general cleanup
500 Mercantile, business, other
510 Person in distress, other
511
Lock -out
512
Ring or Jewelry Removal
540
Animal Problem, Other
541
Animal problem
542
Animal Rescue
550
Public Service assistance, other
551
Assist police or other governmental agency
552
Police matter
553
Public Service assistance, other
554
Assist invalid
600
Ind., utility, defense, agriculture, mining, other
611
Dispatched and canceled en route
621
Wrong location
622
No incident found on arrival at dispatch address
661
EMS call, party transported by non -fire agency
900
Outside or special property, other
20
APPENDIX C
Translation of NFIRS Property Use Description To BCPA Fire Class Code
BCPA Fire
NFIRS Property Use Description
Code
1 or 2 family dwelling
R
24-hour care Nursing homes, 4 or more persons
I
Adult education center, college classroom
Y
Alcohol or substance abuse recovery center
I
Amusement center: indoor/outdoor
C
Bank
C
Boarding/rooming house, residential hotels
C
Business office
C
Casino
C
Casino, gambling clubs
C
Church, mosque, synagogue, temple, chapel
Y
Clinics, doctors offices, hemodialysis cntr, other
C
Clubs, other
I
Construction site
C
Convenience store
C
Crops or orchard
L
Day care, in commercial property
C
Department or discount store
C
Dock, marina, pier, wharf
W
Dump, sanitary landfill
W
Educational, other
Y
Electric -generating plant
W
Electronic amusement center
C
Elementary school, including kindergarten
Y
Energy production plant, other
W
Fire station
X
Food and beverage sales, grocery store
C
Gas distribution, gas pipeline
W
General retail, other
C
Graded and cared -for plots of land
L
High school/junior high school/middle school
X
Hospital - medical or psychiatric
I
Hotel/motel, commercial
C
Household goods, sales, repairs
C
Industrial plant yard - area
W
Laboratory or science laboratory
C
Laundry, dry cleaning
C
Livestock, poultry storage
C
Manufacturing, processing
C
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APPENDIX C
Translation of NFIRS Property Use Description To BCPA Fire Class Code
(Continued)
Mental retardation/development disability facility I
Mercantile, business, other
C
Motor vehicle or boat sales, services, repair
C
Multifamily dwelling
R
Museum
X
Office: veterinary or research
C
Open land or field
A
Outside material storage area
A
Personal service, including barber & beauty shops
C
Places of worship, funeral parlors, other
Y
Preschool
C
Professional supplies, services
C
Public or government, other
X
Railroad yard
C
Recreational, hobby, home repair sales, pet store
C
Reformatory, juvenile detention center
I
Refrigerated storage
C
Residential board and care
I
Residential or self -storage units
W
Restaurant or cafeteria
C
Sanitation utility
W
Schools, non -adult, other
C
Service station, gas station
C
Specialty shop
C
Textile, wearing apparel sales
C
Vacant lot
L
Warehouse
W
Yacht Club
W
22