The following message is from a resident in the Suffolk Hills community of Oro Valley (southeast of Oracle rd & Magee.) Although we are aware of much of the information gleaned by the homeowner, it is applicable to all OV homeowners and we believe worthy of passing on.
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I have come across something that may be of interest to other property owners here in Suffolk Hills.
I received an invoice from Rural Metro Fire Department just this month and my rate from last year had increased by 47%. I thought this was exorbitant so I started calling to see why such a large increase.
I first called the city of Oro Valley and was told that they did not have any control over Rural metro and perhaps Pima County did.
I next called Pima County and after several transfers the person in charge of finances told me that Pima Counaty had no control over Rural metro, but did say they were a private corporation and perhaps the Arizona Corporation Commission could tell me something.
I call the Arizona Corporation Commission and the said Rural was a corporation but they did not have any control over them.I then called back to Oro Valley and asked for a copy of any contracts as well as the Oro Valley Emergency Service Standards
which were mentioned in the letter attached to the yearly fee invoice.
There is a contract between the City of Oro Valley and Rural Metro Fire Department as well as Golder Ranch Fire District. This contract specifies that the City of Oro Valley be paid $250,000 per year for the right to provide fire service to Oro Valley.
I think this is what has happened. The Old Kord ambulance service became Rural Metro Fire and they now think that the ambulance and rescue business is more profitable to them than the fire service, so they have gone to the Golder Ranch Fire District (In Catalina)and made a contract with them to provide the fire service to the City of Oro Valley. The rates for this service were much higher in Catalina (they might have a fire hydrant every few miles or so) Golder Ranch liked the rates in Catalina because they were higher and would provide them more revenue, so they just adjusted
our rates to match theirs. They are also tying the rates to the Pima County assessed value of the home.
Their Corporations depend on subscribers for their revenue, but no one is required by law to subscribe to their service.
I just pass this along, so that you may know what is happening in our area.
Wayne Elledge
550 E. Cambridge Dr.
Tucson, Arizona 85704
3 comments:
I cancelled my contract with Rural Metro years ago. If your property catches fire they will respond and charge about $800 an hour to put out whatever is burning. By the way, the clock starts ticking, like a taxi flag drop, the minute the fire is called in.
A neighbor called my vehicle fire in while I was hosing the car down. The fire was out by the time the Rural Metro showed up.
In the defense of Rural Metro, they provide a decent service. If their price was cheaper and included in property tax I would reconsider. If was hoping Golder Ranch would take over from Rural Metro in Oro Valley.
Mr Elledge's note requires a clarification.
While an earlier decision by a previous town council was most likely the impetus for the subsequent merger between GRFD & R-M, OV personnel were not part of any negotiation.
OV does NOT receive $250,000, but as part of the contract agreement, R-M pays GRFD this amount.
As we know, R-M continues to collect fire service fees on behalf of GRFD for those property owners not yet annexed.
You'd think that having EVERYONE pay into Golder Ranch, as opposed to the subscription service (one in three?) offered by RM, the cost would go down, wouldn't you?
BIG MISTAKE!!! My experience has been the opposite.
I subscribed to RM for years and it wasn't always easy to write that check especially knowing that very few of my neighbors subscribed. Those neighbors petitioned OV to have fire service included in their taxes - now we're paying double and few realize it! Evidently my neighbors don't pay attention to their tax bill, or had no idea what RM charged.
Summation:
RM's charges are based on sq. ft. of home and voluntary. GR's charges are based on assessed value and mandatory.
Golder's service is NOT voluntary! They get the $$ from EVERYONE. RM offered a great service based on the amount of people that subscribed.
Who do I complain to about this inequity?
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