How is a fire district Board of Directors different than the City Council at governing fire and emergency services?

A fire district is governed by an elected Board of Directors similar to how the City of Evans is governed by an elected City Council. Like members of the City Council, members of the fire district Board will be elected by the voters in public elections conducted in accordance with the Colorado election laws. Just as the City Council is required to comply with the City Charter and Colorado laws governing municipalities, the fire district Board of Directors will be required to comply with the fire district's Service Plan and Colorado laws governing fire districts. Also, just as the City Council employs a City Manager to manage the City's day-to-day operations, the fire district Board will hire a chief executive officer, typically a Fire Chief, to manage the fire district's day-to-day fire and emergency services operations. A major difference is that a fire district Board of Directors devotes its time and efforts exclusively to the provision of fire and emergency services. The City Council must divide its time among many services, including police, public works, park and recreation, community development and support services. Limiting the fire district Board's duties to the provision of fire and emergency services enables it to "drill down" to gain a deeper understanding on important issues in the provision of these critical life-saving services, such as emerging trends and technologies, and options that may become available for enhancing the services. Another difference is that the entire budget of a fire district is devoted to the provision of fire and emergency services. A fire district Board will critically analyze all revenues and expenditures to ensure taxpayer dollars are being allocated in a manner that promotes the highest quality fire and emergency services for the dollars expended. And, because almost all of a fire district's revenues are generated from property taxes, the fire district Board has a relatively stable and predictable revenue stream upon which it can base strategic planning to meet the community's projected fire and emergency services needs. In contrast, the City Council must establish annual budgets based on revenue sources, such as sales use taxes, that may vary significantly year to year, and the City Council must allocate the revenues among all City services, balancing the competing needs of multiple public services.

The Service Plan developed by the Fire District Taskforce and the Evans City Council lays out the proposed fire district Board’s specific organization and duties. For a fire district of this size, the Board of Directors typically will focus on policy direction and decisions rather than day-to-day operations. The board will adopt an annual budget, set property tax rates in accordance with state law, and adopt financial and personnel policies. A special responsibility of a fire District Board of Directors will be to adopt a fire code and seek endorsement of this code by the City.