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Flagstaff leaders ask staff to examine new funding options for fire, police and emergency services
Summary
Fire and police chiefs told the City Council the city faces unmet public‑safety needs — more daily staffing, training and apparatus storage, station construction and technology — and staff were asked to evaluate funding options, including taxes, bonds and fee reallocations.
Flagstaff’s fire and police leadership urged the City Council to direct staff to study new funding options to address long‑standing gaps in staffing, facilities and technology.
The council heard a high‑level briefing from Mark Gaillard, fire chief, and Sean Conley, police chief, who described an accumulation of needs—daily staffing shortfalls, three high‑call fire stations, an unfinished training center, equipment and apparatus storage limits, and technology upgrades such as body‑worn cameras and data aggregation for an integrated operations center.
Why it matters: Council members and public‑safety leaders said traditional general‑fund revenues and one‑time sources are insufficient to meet growing ongoing personnel and operations costs; several council members signaled willingness to pursue voter‑backed or other structural funding options if staff can craft a clear, implementable package.
Chief presentations and key needs Mark Gaillard said the conversation is about “should we investigate ways to deal with unmet needs that we have identified,” listing three broad buckets: staffing, staff support/operations, and equipment/technology/capital. Gaillard and Conley emphasized that changes such as expanded parental leave or other employee benefits create additional daily‑coverage needs in 24‑hour operations.
Conley described a planned workload assessment for the police department. He said the study will use an outside contractor and could show how reassigning certain administrative and reporting tasks would free officers for community engagement and preventive policing. Conley summarized the aim: create “25 to 30% of time where they don't have to do that” administrative work and can instead focus on community policing and other higher‑value work.
Capital and facility projects mentioned included a new Wildfire Management Station, Fire Station 7, a police substation, completion of a training center that was left unfinished, and additional apparatus storage. Gaillard said design funding is in place for some projects but not construction dollars or ongoing operating costs to staff new facilities.
Funding options and examples Staff briefed council on potential financing tools used by other municipalities, including voter‑approved sales taxes, bonds to finance capital (general obligation bonds/COPs), fee restructuring and targeted revenue streams. The staff presentation noted Phoenix had recently approved a tax increase to address public‑safety funding shortfalls; staff recommended examining multiple strategies and the distributional impacts of each.
Council direction Council members expressed broad support for exploring funding strategies and asked staff to return with options. Several members emphasized the need for clear, concise proposals aimed at voters if a ballot measure is required; others stressed strong messaging and stakeholder engagement before putting a funding package to voters.
No formal motion was taken at the retreat; chiefs and staff will return with more detailed cost estimates, and Conley’s workload assessment is already funded as a discrete contract.
Ending: Staff will analyze options — including long‑term revenue measures and reallocations — and report back with cost estimates, phasing scenarios and suggested outreach plans for stakeholder and voter consideration.
