At the Copper Canyon Fire & Medical District’s Feb. 22 board meeting at the Beaver Creek Community Association, the board announced that the district is deeply in debt.
The Montezuma-Rimrock Fire District and Camp Verde Fire District formed a joint powers agreement in 2016, cooperating as the Copper Canyon Fire & Medical Authority. The two districts’ boards voted to merge to form the CCFMD in November 2018.
Board member Jenny Sabato presented a summary of information regarding the fire district that has been included in the public meeting minutes since 2019. She clarified that the errors and omissions in the records predate the COVID-19 pandemic and were exacerbated after they were not corrected in a timely manner.
In June 2019, the board approved the district’s May financials, but also apologized for accounting errors with regards to the merger and new software and stated that it would need to repay $365,000 to the county. The board directed staff to pay the sum using a capital reserve transfer.
This was then compounded by the additional accounting error of failing to remove it from the budget, resulting in an $856,000 error.
In October 2019, the Cherry Creek fire station construction was approved, and in November the cost of the facility was estimated at $3.5 million. The carryover error was still in the budget.
February 2020 brought a further loss of $800,000 on property tax, followed by the beginning of the pandemic in March. In April, the Cherry Creek construction project was greenlit even though the compounded error had been discovered by this time.
“This is not good enough,” Sabato said. “I’m angry at what I have found … We need reputable financial help. We need an emergency special meeting, we need to reassign the chair of this board. I do not trust the leadership.”
Linda Welsch is currently the board chairwoman.
During the Feb. 15 meeting, members of the public asked the board about the cause of the deficit. Members of the board offered an explanation of expenses rising faster than revenue, resulting in spending money the district did not have, and pandemic-related expenses.
The James Vincent Group conducted a financial feasibility study on the district and found that the current operational model is not financially sustainable. They predicted that with a reduction of $675,000 in expenditures, it will take five years to pay back Yavapai County.
The board discussed various ways to reduce costs and plan to discuss it further at upcoming meetings. One item that may be reduced is the number of staff on overtime. CCFMD is currently averaging two to five people per day working overtime, but this number must be cut down to one, the board stated.
The board does not see freezing pay or eliminating benefits and wages as a viable option. CCFMD Fire Chief Terry Keller announced his future resignation without specifying a date.
After 24 years with the Sedona Fire District, Keller was hired as MRFD chief in 2013, then jointly hired as chief of the CVFD in 2014. When the districts merged, he stayed on as chief.
Administrative Manager Robyn Cook announced her early retirement two and a half years early.
