What does the fire service cost?

[Dinosaur 844]

Im trying to figure out what the fire service costs each year?

What is your department annual total budget?

[Bnechis 3,961]

The economics of the fire service is not about what the fire service costs. It is what is the cost of fire protection?

The Water Supply +

The Fire Department +

Building Construction +

Code Enforcement +

Fire Insurance = the cost of fire protection.

These 5 components add up to the total cost of fire protection. If you spend more in one category another category drops,often the drop can be more than the additional cost.

Example #1

Adding automatic fire sprinklers to single family dwelling causes the insurance premium to drop. Generally the savings equal the sprinkler cost after seven years. If the structure has a 30 year morgage, the owner will have spent less for 23 years because of the sprinklers. Since most uildings last far longer, after the buildings 7th year it’s all savings.

Example #2

Improving the fire department may cost millions, but the savings on the insurance often offsets the Fire Department’s cost, sometimes by 5 to 10 times.

Example #3

Failing to inspect your water supply to the AWWI (American Water Works Institute) standards may save the cost of hiring an inspector, but it can drop the insurance rating and cost the

community millions of dollars.

Fire Protection is the ONLY municipal service where improved capability often result in savings to taxpayers through reduced property insurance premiums.

In New Rochelle we have calculated that if the FD has a $1 million reduction in our budget, the property owners will see an increase of $12 million in premiums.

If we gave 100% back and eliminated the FD, the property owners would pay an additional $50 -$75 million above what they currently pay for FD and Insurance combined