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LDC FM proposes six‑factor funding formula to stabilize city‑county cost sharing
Summary
Lawrence‑Douglas County Fire‑Medical presented a new six‑factor method for dividing shared operating expenses that averages population, protected population, apparatus responses, staffing, incident location and hypothetical LFD/DCAS splits; governance recommends a multiyear agreement and staff will negotiate details with Douglas County.
Lawrence‑Douglas County Fire‑Medical officials on May 5 outlined a proposed multifactor approach for splitting roughly $30 million of shared operating expenses between the City of Lawrence and Douglas County.
John Darling, LDC FM Division Chief of EMS, said the previous staffing‑based formula introduced large swings when apparatus or staffed positions changed. He described six objective factors governance had selected: total population (2020 census), population protected (accounting for EMS and fire coverage), apparatus responses, staffed apparatus allocation, incidents by planning zone, and an analysis of calls that would have been split between agencies if services had not been merged. “When we take the average of them altogether, we end up with 60.6% to 39.4%,” Darling said, describing the unweighted average result.
Darling and staff stressed the goal was to reduce volatility in annual cost allocations and recommended a multiyear agreement instead of recalculating every year. He told commissioners the approach was more stable, noting staff tested sensitivity to census estimate variations and found only small shifts in the resulting share. In response to commissioner questions, LDC FM estimated that a 3% shift on a $30 million shared pool would be roughly a $1 million swing.
Commissioners and members of the public probed benchmarking, how peer communities handle cost sharing, and whether fewer factors would materially change results. Several public commenters and local elected leaders noted the political sensitivity of reallocating costs and asked for archival documentation that explains the governance process. Darling said governance planned to take direction from both commissions, negotiate a multiyear agreement with the county and return with a final agreement for approval in the fall.
The commission provided general support for the framework and directed staff to continue governance negotiations with county partners; specifics and any contract language will return for formal approval.
