ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Forty-seventh Legislature, Second Regular Session
FINAL AMENDED
FACT SHEET FOR H.B. 2145/S.B. 1177
county island fire districts; agreement
Purpose
An emergency measure that authorizes the formation of a county island fire district to receive fire protection and emergency medical services from a private provider or the surrounding city or town government in a specified area.
Statute prohibits a city or town from annexing territory if it results in a “county island.” A county island is defined as unincorporated territory that is surrounded on all sides by a municipality or where the unincorporated territory has borders that involve a combination of a municipality or municipalities and a reservation. However, if a county island exists, a city or town is not obligated to annex the entire island if it wishes to annex a portion of the territory and is exempt from the size, shape and contiguity requirements as long as the territory is surrounded on at least three sides by the annexing city.
Counties are not authorized to provide fire or emergency medical services, therefore county islands must seek protection from other sources. Some larger county islands form fire districts and other county islands contract with a private provider through community associations. However, some county islands do not have fire and emergency medical protection at all.
In 2004, the Legislature required Maricopa County to enter into an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with a municipality or municipalities for fire protection and emergency medical services in the unincorporated territory. The legislation authorized the Board of Supervisors to charge the property owners in the unincorporated territory a fee to cover the costs to provide the fire and emergency medical services. Currently, Maricopa County has not entered into an IGA with any municipality to provide fire or emergency medical services in the county islands.
There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund associated with this legislation.
Provisions
County Island Fire District Operation
1. Requires a city or town surrounding a county island fire district or a private provider to provide fire protection and emergency medical services to the district upon formation of the district.
2. Limits the formation of a district to county islands located in the Mesa 911 service provider district area within the municipal planning area of a town of 100,000 or more persons. The district must include all of the county islands in this area.
3. Places the liability on the city or town if it is grossly negligent in providing fire or emergency medical services to a district.
4. Requires the city or town to provide workers’ compensation coverage to the providers of fire or emergency medical services to a district.
5. Requires the county island fire district board to notify the board of supervisors of the cost of providing fire protection and emergency medical services for each household or other structure in the district.
6. Requires the city or town to charge a reasonable rate to the county island fire district to recover the costs of the service and authorizes the district board to assess and levy a secondary property tax of up to $3.25 per $100 of accessed valuation.
7. Limits the amount charged by the city or town to the following:
a) for each residence or commercial building, the portion of any new home impact fee being charged by that city or town designated for fire protection to be paid over a three-year period.
b) for any additional infrastructure, up to a $75 fee per year for up to five years.
c) for operation and maintenance, an amount equal to the annual operation and maintenance charge for the city or town divided by the sum of households and commercial buildings located in the city or town and the number of households and commercial buildings in the district.
d) for administrative costs, an amount up to five percent of the annual operation and maintenance costs, but not more than $25 per household or commercial buildings in the district.
8. Requires the county island fire district to issue a request for proposal (RFP) for providers of fire protection and emergency medical services for the district.
9. Requires the surrounding city or town to provide the service if there are no responsive and qualified bidders or the service provider withdraws from its contract.
10. Specifies RFP requirements including the requirement that a successful bidder post a $10 million performance bond and that performance standards of the service conform with those of the surrounding municipalities.
11. Stipulates that the county island fire district is limited to receiving fire protection and emergency medical services from the adjacent city government or some other service provider.
12. Stipulates that a city or town fire service provider is not liable for any fire protection services for any areas outside of the city’s jurisdiction and a city has no legal obligation to provide fire protection services to residents of unincorporated areas of the county until the formation of the district.
County Island Fire District Formation
13. Allows any person to petition the board of supervisors for the county in which the county island fire district is proposed to be located.
14. Limits the formation of a county island fire district to unincorporated areas of a single county that are surrounded by a single city or town or that are surrounded by a single city or town in combination with other publicly owned or sovereign land.
15. Exempts real property owned by a public service corporation or an agricultural district from formation requirements.
16. Allows the board of supervisors to certify the establishment of the district after a hearing, if the petitions are submitted having signatures of a majority of the aggregated number of owners of all of the real property located within the proposed district.
17. Applies the statutory petition form and verification standards for fire districts to the county island fire district petition procedures.
18. Requires the district to be governed by a five-member elected district board with the board of supervisors appointing the initial district board from among qualified electors of the county and requires the initial district board to schedule an election.
19. Exempts a county island fire district from the statutory special district creation requirements.
20. Exempts a county island fire district from the requirement to appoint or hire a fire chief.
21. Requires a county with a population of more than 1.5 million that has a county island that does not form a district to enter into an IGA with a municipality or municipalities for fire protection and emergency medical services.
22. Places the liability on the county if the county was negligent in enforcing building, zoning or other related codes in a county island and a municipality with the IGA to provide service is hindered in responding to an emergency because of these code issues.
Miscellaneous
23. Requires, by December 1, 2009, the district to report to the Legislature and the Governor on the district’s activities for the three preceding years, including a comprehensive description of the costs paid and the services provided.
24. Requires, by December 1, 2011, the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives to appoint a study committee to review statutes regarding county island fire districts and report its findings for consideration in the following legislative session.
25. Contains legislative intent regarding fire protection and emergency medical services.
26. Makes technical and conforming changes.
27. Becomes effective on signature of the Governor, if the emergency clause is enacted.
Amendments to S.B. 1177 Adopted by Committee
1. Limits the formation of a district to county islands located in the Mesa 911 service provider district area within the municipal planning area of a town of 100,000 or more persons. The district must include all of the county islands in this area.
2. Places the liability on the city or town if it was grossly negligent in providing services to a district.
3. Exempts real property owned by a public service corporation or an agricultural district.
4. Requires the district to report to the Legislature and the Governor on the district’s activities after three years and requires the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives to adopt a study committee to conduct a statutory review after five years.
5. Requires Maricopa County to enter into an IGA with a municipality for fire protection and emergency medical services if it does not form a county island fire district. Places the liability on the county if the county was negligent in enforcing codes in the county islands and the city with the IGA to provide service is hindered in responding to an emergency because of these code issues.
Amendments to S.B. 1177 Adopted by Committee of the Whole
1. Allows the county island fire district to receive fire protection and emergency medical services from a private provider.
2. Requires the county island fire district to issue an RFP for providers of fire protection and emergency medical services. Requires the bidder to post a $10 million bond and perform based on standards that conform to the surrounding city or town standards.
3. Requires the surrounding city or town to provide the service if there are not qualified bidders or the service provider withdraws from the contract.
Senate Action on S.B. 1177 House Action on H.B. 2145
GOV 1/26/06 DPA 5-2-0-0 CMMA 1/17/06 W/D
(H.B. 2145 was substituted for S.B. 1177 FMPR 1/25/06 DPA 5-1-0-0
on 3rd Read.) 3rd Read 2/1/06 44-12-3-0-1
3rd Read 2/6/06 22-5-3-0
Signed by Governor 2/13/06
Chapter 2
Prepared by Senate Research
February 21, 2006
NS/jas