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Town and county set schedule to review joint powers agreements, starting with Fire/EMS
Summary
The two governing bodies approved an ambitious staff schedule to review joint powers agreements and other cooperative arrangements department-by-department, beginning with Fire/EMS in August and seeking staff analyses and options for governance and funding for each joint function.
The Town of Jackson and Teton County on July 7 directed staff to begin a department-by-department review of joint powers agreements, memoranda of understanding and other cooperative arrangements, and to return with analysis of reasonable alternatives and staff recommendations. The boards also asked staff to provide a joint update after completion of the Fire/EMS review in the fall.
Town Manager Tyler Sinclair and County Administrator Jody Pond presented a timeline and proposed grouping of joint efforts. Staff explained the review would start with Fire/EMS (consultant Emergency Services Consulting International will present draft recommendations in August), followed by Parks and Recreation, transportation/pathways, housing and planning, with remaining functions such as dispatch, treatment court, animal shelter and victim services to follow. Staff proposed meeting-by-meeting focus on each joint function and preparing staff reports that include current funding arrangements, five-year financials, governance pros and cons, and alternative models.
County and town staff said the review is intended to be practical, not exhaustive, and to be accomplished during joint meetings with working groups composed of town/county managers, finance staff and key department leaders. The staff report proposed assessing alternatives including contract-for-service approaches, authority formation, jurisdictional split, or continuation of existing arrangements.
Commissioners and councilors emphasized trade-offs between time spent on the joint-review work and other agenda items, the need to incorporate volunteer advisory boards in discussions where appropriate, and the value of outside expert support for complex functions such as Parks and Rec and transportation. Commissioner Gardner and others warned the process can be time-consuming and urged clarity on goals, success metrics, costs and opportunity costs before devoting extensive staff and elected time.
Commissioner Probst moved the motion directing staff to schedule the reviews per the staff report and to provide analysis of reasonable alternatives and recommendations for each joint department or function, and to return after completing the Fire/EMS review; Commissioner Karlmann seconded. The motion passed unanimously for both the county and town.
Staff will present the Fire/EMS consultant report in August and follow the staff timeline, which anticipates completing initial reviews of Fire/EMS, Parks and Recreation, transportation/pathways, housing and planning during the 2025–26 workplan, with remaining joint services addressed thereafter. The boards acknowledged the schedule is ambitious and agreed the joint meetings should prioritize the effort.
