Budget Battle: How Quick Should an Ambulance Come? 

In this file photo, Key Biscayne fire and police vehicles respond to a call, May 2, 2019 (key News/Tony Winton)

As Key Biscayne looks to both cut costs and simultaneously approve massive public works spending for environmental resiliency, attention is being drawn to all Village service for possible cutbacks.

Police and Fire Rescue are no exception.

The two departments, combined, have 87 of Key Biscayne’s 126 full time employees, or nearly 70% of full-time workers.

At a budget workshop in June, Manager Andrea Agha said she is developing a series of “what if” scenarios that would at least entertain the notion of longer response times as a cost-saving measure. “For example: fire response time?” she asked.

“From the time we make the call, to the time the truck shows up, no more than five minutes,” she said, stating the current approximate fire rescue response time.

Or, she said, does the Council want to look for a savings with a longer response period?  “Seven minutes? We can scale back,” Agha said, without advocating a preference.

Currently, the Fire Rescue Department has 35 firefighter/paramedics who respond to about 1,900 calls a year, said Chief Eric Lang. The staffing is structured to handle up to three simultaneous EMS calls. For a fire at a high-rise condominium, there would be 23 people on scene within a five-minute window, he said.

But, with only one current staff vacancy and one expected retirement in the next fiscal year, Lang does not see much opportunity for further staff attrition without ramping up costs.

“If I get to 33, 32, my overtime numbers are crushed,” he said, saying Key residents are accustomed to having a high level of service from one of the few accredited fire rescue teams in the state.

The review comes as the Village Council has indicated that it will hold the line on taxes against a backdrop of a dip in taxable property values. The Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser’s office released updated figures Monday showing the decline, however, had eased a bit. The 2019 taxable value is now expected to drop 2.6% compared to last year. The prior estimate May 31 had projected a 2.8% decline.

At the Police Department, there are 36 “sworn” and 11 nonsworn employees, according to the Village, and there were no vacancies or expected retirements.

“Do people want a Honda Civic, basic level of service?” asked Police Chief Charles Press. “Or do they want a Yukon SUV?”

Press said that for emergencies, the Department maintains a two-minute response time, with standard calls sometimes taking longer. Officers also conduct investigations, operate a marine patrol, work on the DARE anti-drug program,  provide school resource officer services, as well as up to 14,000 annual “watch orders” to monitor specific locations.

The KBPD has earned successive awards for excellence by the Florida Commission on Law Enforcement and, despite some 2 million visitors a year, has consistently ranked among the nation’s safest cities.

“That doesn’t happen by circumstance,” Press said.

Agha made it clear that her approach was a response to the Council’s strategic retreat in May, which identified efficiency in government as the top priority of elected officials.

“That’s kind of the goal and the vision we have in going through the zero-based budget process,” she said. “It will not always result in a layoff,” she was quick to maintain.

Prior public opinion polling, done by the Village in 2015, indicated broad support for the island’s public safety services.

Some 91% of residents were satisfied or very satisfied with fire rescue, and 76% were satisfied or very satisfied with overall quality of police services. The survey, conducted by ETC Institute, was mailed to 5,000 households and has an error margin of plus or minus 3.9%.

In the end, Agha put the question to the Council about priorities.

“What does efficiency mean to each of us?” she said.