2005 Arizona Revised Statutes - Revised Statutes §48-805  Fire district; powers and duties

A. A fire district, through its board or elected chief and secretary-treasurer, shall:

1. Hold public meetings at least once each calendar month.

2. Prepare an annual budget containing detailed estimated expenditures for each fiscal year which shall clearly show salaries payable to employees of the district, including the elected or appointed chief. The budget shall be posted in three public places and published in a newspaper of general circulation in the district thirty days prior to a public hearing at a meeting called by the board or elected chief to adopt the budget. Copies of the budget shall also be available to members of the public upon written request to the district. Following the public hearing, the district board or elected chief and secretary-treasurer shall adopt a budget.

3. Determine the compensation payable to district personnel.

4. Require probationary employees in a paid sworn firefighter position, a reserve firefighter position or a volunteer firefighter position to submit a full set of fingerprints to the fire district. The fire district shall submit the fingerprints to the department of public safety for the purpose of obtaining a state and federal criminal records check pursuant to section 41-1750 and Public Law 92-544. The department of public safety may exchange this fingerprint data with the federal bureau of investigation.

B. A fire district, through its board or elected fire chief and secretary-treasurer, may:

1. Employ any personnel and provide services deemed necessary for fire protection, for preservation of life and for carrying out its other powers and duties, including providing ambulance transportation services when authorized to do so pursuant to title 36, chapter 21.1, article 2, but a member of a district board shall not be an employee of the district. The merger of two or more fire districts pursuant to section 48-820 or the consolidation with one or more fire districts pursuant to section 48-822 shall not expand the boundaries of an existing certificate of necessity unless authorized pursuant to title 36, chapter 21.1, article 2.

2. Construct, purchase, lease, lease-purchase or otherwise acquire the following or any interest therein and, in connection with such construction or other acquisition, purchase, lease, lease-purchase or grant a lien on any or all of its present or future property, including:

(a) Apparatus, water and rescue equipment, including ambulances and equipment related to any of the foregoing.

(b) Land, buildings, equipment and furnishings to house equipment and personnel necessary or appropriate to carry out its purposes.

3. Finance the acquisition of property as provided in this section and costs incurred in connection with the issuance of bonds as provided in section 48-806. Bonds shall not be issued without the consent of a majority of the electors of the district voting at an election held for that purpose. For the purposes of an election held under this paragraph, all persons who are eligible to vote in fire district elections under section 48-802 are eligible to vote.

4. Enforce the fire code adopted by the district, if any, and assist the state fire marshal in the enforcement of fire protection standards of this state within the fire district including enforcement of a nationally recognized fire code when expressly authorized by the state fire marshal.

5. After the approval of the qualified electors of the fire district voting at a regular district election or at a special election called for such purpose by the district board or the elected chief and secretary-treasurer, as appropriate, or at any election held in the county which encompasses the fire district, adopt the __________ fire code, which is a nationally recognized fire code approved by the state fire marshal. The words appearing upon the ballots shall be "Should ______________ fire district adopt the ______________ fire code, which is a nationally recognized fire code approved by the state fire marshal--yes", "Should ________________ fire district adopt the ______________ fire code, which is a nationally recognized fire code approved by the state fire marshal--no". Such code shall be enforced by the county attorney in the same manner as any other law or ordinance of the county. Any inspection or enforcement costs are the responsibility of the fire district involved. The district shall keep on file such code which shall be open to public inspection for a period of thirty days prior to any election for the purpose of adopting a fire code. Copies of the order of election shall be posted in three public places in the district not less than twenty days before the date of the election, and if a newspaper is published in the county having a general circulation in the district, the order shall be published in the newspaper not less than once a week during each of the three calendar weeks preceding the calendar week of the election.

6. Amend or revise the adopted fire code, including replacement of the adopted fire code with an alternative nationally recognized fire code, with the approval of the state fire marshal and after a hearing held pursuant to posted and published notice as prescribed by subsection A, paragraph 2 of this section. The district shall keep three copies of the adopted code, amendments and revisions on file for public inspection.

7. Enter into an agreement procuring the services of an organized private fire protection company or a fire department of a neighboring city, town, district or settlement without impairing the fire district's powers.

8. Contract with a city or town for fire protection services for all or part of the city or town area until the city or town elects to provide regular fire department services to the area.

9. Retain a certified public accountant to perform an annual audit of district books.

10. Retain private legal counsel.

11. Accept gifts, contributions, bequests and grants and comply with any requirements of such gifts, contributions, bequests and grants not inconsistent with this article.

12. Appropriate and expend annually such monies as are necessary for the purpose of fire districts belonging to and paying dues in the Arizona fire district association and other professional affiliations or entities.

13. Adopt resolutions establishing fee schedules both within and outside of the jurisdictional boundaries of the district for providing fire protection services and services for the preservation of life, including emergency fire and emergency medical services, plan reviews, standby charges, fire cause determination, users' fees, facilities benefit assessments or any other fee schedule that may be required.

14. Adopt resolutions for a schedule for financial reimbursement to taxpayers for installation of certain fire protection systems such as sprinklers and monitored alarms. Any resolution to offer reimbursements shall include all of the following:

(a) A nationally recognized analysis of the cost savings to the district by using the fire protection systems.

(b) The specifications of all qualifying systems.

(c) The requirements for claiming reimbursement. The amount of reimbursement offered shall bear a reasonable relationship to the cost savings that accrue to the district as a result of the installation of qualifying systems.

(d) The requirement that the resolution to offer reimbursements expires one year after its adoption unless specifically readopted by the governing board. A resolution to readopt a schedule for financial reimbursement shall additionally include a statement as to the program's effectiveness. The statement shall include the amount of reimbursements paid to each taxpayer for the installation of the fire protection system.

15. The governing board of a fire district, with the approval of two of the three members of a three member board, four of the five members of a five member board or five of the seven members of a seven member board, may change the district's name and on so doing shall give written notice to the board of supervisors of the change.

16. Require all employees to submit a full set of fingerprints as prescribed by subsection A, paragraph 4 of this section.

17. Enter into intergovernmental agreements or contracts as follows:

(a) Enter into an intergovernmental agreement with another political subdivision for technical or administrative services or to provide fire services to the property owned by the political subdivision, including property that is outside the district boundary.

(b) Enter into a contract with individuals to:

(i) Provide technical or administrative services.

(ii) Provide fire protection services to property owned by the individual located outside the district boundaries if the individual's property is not located in a county island as defined in section 11-251.12 and at least one of the following apply:

(aa) The existing fire service provider where the individual's property is located has issued a notice to the individual that the provider plans to discontinue service.

(bb) Fire service is not available to the individual's property.

(cc) Fire service is offered pursuant to a contract or subscription and the individual has not obtained service for a period of twenty-four months before the date of the contract with the district.

(c) Enter into a contract with individuals to provide fire services to property owned by the individual located outside the district boundaries, where the individual's property is located in a county island as defined in section 11-251.12, if both of the following apply:

(i) The existing fire service provider where the individual's property is located has issued a notice to the residents of the county island and the individual that the provider plans to discontinue or substantially reduce service.

(ii) The district offers contracts to all residents and property owners of the county island who will be affected by the discontinuance or substantial reduction in service by the current fire service provider.

(d) For purposes of subdivision (a), (b) or (c) of this paragraph, a district may contract with any public or private fire service provider to provide some or all of the contractual services the district is contracting to deliver.

(e) Any contract entered into pursuant to subdivisions (b) and (c) of this paragraph shall include a provision setting forth the cost of service and performance criteria.

C. The chairman and clerk of the district board or their respective designees or the elected chief and secretary-treasurer, as applicable, shall draw warrants on the county treasurer for money required to operate the district in accordance with the budget and, as so drawn, the warrants shall be sufficient to authorize the county treasurer to pay from the fire district fund.

D. The district shall not incur any debt or liability in excess of taxes levied and to be collected and the money actually available and unencumbered at the time in the fund, except as provided in subsection B, paragraph 2 of this section and in sections 48-806 and 48-807.

E. For a county island fire district formed pursuant to section 48-261, subsection H, the following apply:

1. The district may be formed only in county islands that are located in an area that is within the 911 service provider district in which the largest city has a population of more than three hundred ninety-five thousand persons but less than five hundred thousand persons and that is located within the municipal planning area of a town with a population of one hundred thousand or more persons as designated in the land use map of the municipality's general plan. The district may only be formed if the district contains all of the county islands that are prescribed in this paragraph and after compliance with the petition requirements prescribed by section 48-261, subsection H.

2. The district is authorized only to receive fire protection services and emergency medical services from the adjacent city or town government or some other provider of fire protection and emergency medical services. A county island fire district has no authority to provide fire protection services or emergency medical services by any method other than as prescribed by this subsection. The city or town shall charge a reasonable rate to the county island fire district to recover the costs of the service and excluding the costs of any awards made pursuant to section 48-261, subsection H, paragraph 2, and the district board may assess and levy a secondary property tax pursuant to this article to pay for the costs of the service. The amount charged by the city or town is limited as follows:

(a) For each residence or commercial building, an amount to buy into service from the city or town. The amount chargeable pursuant to this paragraph is limited to the portion of any new home impact fee being charged by that city or town that is designated for fire protection, and that amount shall be deferred and payable over a three year period.

(b) If additional infrastructure is reasonably necessary to provide service to the county island fire district, the city or town may charge a fee of up to seventy-five dollars per year for each household or other structure for up to five years.

(c) An operation and maintenance charge that is determined by calculating the annual operation and maintenance charge for the city or town and dividing that amount by the sum of the number of households and commercial buildings located in the city or town and the number of households and commercial buildings located in the county island fire district.

(d) Administrative costs of up to five per cent of the annual operating and maintenance costs per year but not more than twenty-five dollars per household or commercial building per year.

3. Within ten business days after the appointment of the board of directors for the district, the district shall issue a request for proposals for providers of fire protection and emergency medical services for the county island fire district. Notwithstanding any other law, the request for proposals is deemed a lawful procurement if the district provides for expedited public notice of the request for proposals, the due date and the terms of the request for proposals. If there are no responsive and qualified bidders on the request for proposals or if the service provider withdraws from its contract, the fire protection and emergency medical services shall be provided by the adjacent city or town. The request for proposals shall provide that the service provider shall be paid not more than the monies prescribed by this subsection and shall also provide for a maximum of thirty days for the receipt of proposals from service providers. The request for proposals shall include the following provisions:

(a) A successful bidder shall post a ten million dollar performance bond, which shall be forfeited if the successful bidder does not fully perform the contract or terminates the contract with less than one year's notice.

(b) The performance standards for fire protection and emergency services shall conform to those of surrounding municipalities.

(c) Any municipality that bids to provide services is exempt from the performance bond prescribed by subdivision (a) of this paragraph.

(d) Nothing in the request for proposals shall preclude a private fire service provider from submitting and being eligible for a bid for the proposed services.

F. Until formation of a county island fire district is certified by the county board of supervisors, a city or town fire service provider is not liable for any fire protection services for any areas outside of the city's or town's jurisdiction and a city or town has no legal obligation to provide fire protection services to residents of the county who are not located within the boundaries of the city or town.

G. Notwithstanding any other law, a city or town is liable if the city or town is grossly negligent in providing fire or emergency medical services to a county island fire district formed pursuant to this section. For purposes of title 23, chapter 6, for a city or town that provides fire or emergency medical services to a county island fire district pursuant to this section, the providers of those services are acting within the scope of their duties to the city or town while providing those services to a county island fire district and the city or town shall provide workers' compensation coverage to those providers.

H. Subsection E of this section does not apply to and a county island fire district cannot be formed to include real property owned by a public service corporation that is regulated by the corporation commission or real property owned by a special taxing district organized pursuant to title 48, chapter 17.

I. The county attorney may advise and represent the district when in the county attorney's judgment such advice and representation are appropriate and not in conflict with the county attorney's duties under section 11-532. If the county attorney is unable to advise and represent the district due to a conflict of interest, the district may retain private legal counsel or may request the attorney general to represent it, or both.