LAS VEGAS -- Taxpayers in Las Vegas are shelling out $155,000 for an extensive study on the city's fire department.
The city declined an interview, but according to a press release, the study will find ways to save taxpayers money over the long run.
Dean Fletcher, president of Las Vegas Firefighters Local 1285, said he has concerns on how the study is being done.
"We have some of the best fire departments here in the valley," Fletcher said.
He said he's ready to fight what the International City/County Management Association could find in its review of Las Vegas Fire and Rescue.
"What they do is go around, they hire supposed experts," Fletcher said. "A lot of them are from smaller fire departments that don't do what we do as modern fire departments in the western United States."
The cost to operate the fire department is growing, now at $111 million a year and the city hired the management association, or ICMA, to find ways to save money.
"They come in and basically say, ‘Don't worry, everything will be OK when we dismantle your fire departments and have less firefighters on duty,' " Fletcher said.
According to the city, ICMA has made hundreds of police and fire departments more efficient.
Fletcher said the union is concerned previous ICMA recommendations for other cities, such as two-man fire pickup trucks, rather than fire engines, is asking for a disaster.
The unions have long maintained that fire departments do a better job, with faster response times, than private ambulance companies.
"When you use the ICMA, they come in with a cookie-cutter approach, whether you're a city of 10,000 or whether you're a city of five million, here's your answer: ‘Cut the fire department, privatize everything,'" said Jeff Hurley, president of the North Las Vegas Firefighters union.
The findings of the report are expected to be presented at a Las Vegas City Council meeting next month.
The ICMA referred all questions to the city of Las Vegas.
