WASHOE COUNTY NEWS RELEASE
The Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District will hold an open house on Thursday, Nov. 3, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in the Washoe County Commission Chambers, located at 1001 East Ninth Street, Reno (at the corner of Ninth Street and Wells Avenue). A short presentation is scheduled for 6 p.m.
At the open house, the organizational plans for the district will be presented and citizens will be able to provide input. The district will be ready to begin new operations as a separate fire service on July 1, 2012, and a detailed transition plan to re-establish the district is currently being implemented. A copy of the transition plan and timeline is available online.
In addition to an overview of the future Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District, information will be provided regarding how the plan to integrate the Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District and the Sierra Fire Protection District will move forward, and when.
On June 28, the Board of Fire Commissioners of the Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District voted to terminate the Interlocal Agreement for Fire Services with the Reno Fire Department effective June 30, 2012.
For the past two years, the Joint Fire Advisory Board comprising elected officials from both the TMFPD Board of Fire Commissioners and the city of Reno have met to address multiple issues that impact the cost of fire operations.
The Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District currently pays $11.3 million annually to the city of Reno to provide the delivery of fire services for the TMFPD. Financial analysis has shown that this funding is not sustainable given on-going property tax revenue reductions in that fire district’s service territory, and will continue to result in declining ending fund balances.
In making the decision, the board noted the decision to terminate the contract with the RFD was made based on the financial analysis presented to them, noting that while the district has saved approximately $13 million over the past decade as a result of the interlocal agreement between TMFPD and RFD, current and projected economic conditions make the contract financially unsustainable.
For more information, visit www.washoecounty.us/mgrsoff/TMFire.html.
