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Ogden fire chief seeks approval of Weber County paramedic interlocal; proposes moving code services into 'community risk reduction'
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Summary
Chief Slater asked the council to approve an updated interlocal to maintain a regional paramedic program that subsidizes 22 Ogden paramedics; he also proposed moving Code Services into a Community Risk Reduction team inside Fire with no net general‑fund increase this year but with staffing reassignments.
Ogden Fire Department leadership presented a proposed interlocal agreement with Weber County that continues a decades‑long paramedic partnership and a related operational shift to realign Code Services into a Community Risk Reduction (CRR) function within Fire.
Chief Slater described the paramedic program as regional and high‑volume: Ogden houses three paramedic rescue squads and, he said, the city responds to about 23,000 calls annually. He told council members the county’s paramedic tax covers durable equipment while the interlocal helps subsidize wages and benefits for 22 paramedics who are Ogden employees. On subsidy goals, Slater said, “We’re at 60%,” explaining the department’s target had been to reach roughly 70% county subsidization of personnel costs but that Ogden’s higher call volume affects the distribution of costs.
Slater also proposed a reorganization to move Code Services from Community and Economic Development into the Fire Department to create a community risk reduction team focused on upstream prevention: repeat‑violation tracking, a vacant‑property registry, risk‑based inspections and streamlined enforcement tied to life‑safety priorities. He said the reorganization is a reallocation of existing general‑fund dollars and framed it as operational realignment to improve outcomes, not a request for additional general‑fund appropriation for the remainder of the fiscal year.
Finance staff Justin Sorensen explained the ordinance and staffing changes that would implement the move. To cover the remainder of the fiscal year the proposal would transfer last‑quarter budget line items from CED to Fire, create a new Fire line to track CRR, transfer three code‑service officer positions plus an administrative assistant to Fire, add a deputy fire marshal to oversee the group and add two firefighters in the general fund and one firefighter in the medical fund. Sorensen said the net headcount change city‑wide would be +1 once funds and position classifications are adjusted in the staffing document.
Council members asked about mission creep and enforcement priorities; Chief Slater said code‑service staff would remain civilian staff reporting to the deputy fire marshal, would not perform sworn duties (no truck or EMT duties), and would be managed through performance benchmarks and prioritization matrices to preserve life‑safety enforcement focus.
No final ordinance vote occurred in the work session; members asked for more detailed reporting and monitoring plans and signaled they will continue the discussion in subsequent meetings before taking final action.
