Some of Sonoma County’s struggling fire agencies are starting to cash in on profits from Sonoma County’s newest casino.
Money from the Graton Resort and Casino will allow the Rancho Adobe Fire Protection District to staff all three of its fire stations after nearly two years of having to keep one station closed on a rotating basis.
For the Central Fire Authority, which includes Rincon Valley and Windsor fire districts and land occupied by the casino, gambling profits will pay for a new fire engine. Rincon Valley lost property tax revenue to the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, which opened the casino just outside of Rohnert Park in November.
Firefighters open up the Rancho Adobe Fire Protection District's Cotati station on Wednesday, July 9, 2014. The fire district will suspend its revolving brownouts on July 15 until this winter. (BETH SCHLANKER / The Press Democrat)
Fire engineer James Deurloo inspects the brakes and underside of a fire engine while firefighter Sam Martinez does a supplies inventory during a weekly equipment check at the Rancho Adobe Fire Protection District's Cotati station on Wednesday, July 9, 2014. (BETH SCHLANKER / The Press Democrat)
Firefighter intern Brian Sweet, left, and firefighter Sam Martinez put away hoses after a weekly equipment check at Rancho Adobe Fire Protection District's Cotati station on Wednesday, July 9, 2014. (BETH SCHLANKER / The Press Democrat)
Firefighter Sam Martinez conducts a weekly equipment check at the Rancho Adobe Fire Protection District's Cotati station on Wednesday, July 9, 2014. (BETH SCHLANKER / The Press Democrat)
(From left) Station Capt. Bill Adams, engineer James Deurloo and firefighter Sam Martinez chat together at the Rancho Adobe Fire Protection District's Cotati station on Wednesday, July 9, 2014. (BETH SCHLANKER / The Press Democrat)
Fire engineer James Deurloo replaces fluids in the engine of a fire truck during a weekly inspection at the Rancho Adobe Fire Protection District's Cotati station on Wednesday, July 9, 2014. (BETH SCHLANKER / The Press Democrat)
Fire engineer James Deurloo checks an oxygen mask during a weekly inspection at the Rancho Adobe Fire Protection District's Cotati station on Wednesday, July 9, 2014. (BETH SCHLANKER / The Press Democrat)
Station Capt. Bill Adams, left, and engineer James Deurloo chat together at the Rancho Adobe Fire Protection District's Cotati station on Wednesday, July 9, 2014. (BETH SCHLANKER / The Press Democrat)
And to help it respond to emergency calls at the casino, the Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety is using the windfall laid out in agreements between the tribe and the city and county to build its first fire station west of Highway 101, near the 254-acre casino property. The city should have the $3.7 million it needs for the station within two years.
“The casino money will help in terms of our response times,” said Brian Masterson, director of public safety for Rohnert Park. “It will allow us to provide better protection, and it will allow us to build another resource for the county.”
The fire agencies averaged about 1.2 emergency calls a day at the casino in the first few months of operations, Central Fire Chief Doug Williams said. That number could rise once a hotel planned for the parcel comes online.
The Sonoma County grand jury issued a report last week saying public safety agencies should continue to use the money to offset the impacts of the casino on crime, traffic and emergency services, and cautioned that the money should not be counted on as a steady revenue stream for operations.
Key public safety and county administration officials began meeting months before the casino’s Nov. 5 opening to coordinate the emergency response at the Bay Area’s largest gambling center. Earlier this summer, they convened again, this time to debate and hash out a rough spending plan for the $1million in annual payments for fire agencies from the Graton Mitigation Fund.
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They decided on $297,000 for Rancho Adobe, $334,000 for Central Fire and $20,000 for Sonoma County Fire Services. The Board of Supervisors, which approved the funding scheme last month, will allocate the rest of the money later this year.
“I think that, as we move forward, these discussions will intensify to make sure coverage is what we need it to be,” said David Rabbitt, chairman of the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors. “I’ve really been happy with the collaborative effort between agencies.”
Rohnert Park, which has its own $250 million, 20-year agreement with the tribe that includes public safety earmarks totaling $5 million, did not receive money from the county’s $1 million pool of fire protection funds but could in the future at the discretion of the Board of Supervisors.
Rancho Adobe Fire Chief Frank Treanor said he’ll start using the additional revenue quickly by opening the third station as soon as next week. The money isn’t enough to pay for three stations for a full year, though, so the agency will have to return to closing one on a rotating basis in November, he said.
Rancho Adobe fire officials have bemoaned the rolling closures, saying it has affected response times when the closest station to a call isn’t staffed. The cutbacks started in 2012 after a failed effort to raise property taxes to fund the fire district.
“I’m very happy for the citizens,” Treanor said. “They’re going to benefit. I’m very happy the casino is our neighbor and willing to work with the community to try and make everything a little bit better. We’ve been very concerned about the rolling outages. When we’re not (staffed) in that area, we’re not there as quickly as we could be.”
The casino has nothing to do with Rancho Adobe’s financial struggles, which have been exacerbated by a combination of a sluggish economy, a drop in property tax revenue and the rising cost of providing emergency services. But fire officials debating how to spend the money decided that, with the casino drawing from many county fire agencies’ resources, helping Rancho Adobe get back to three stations was an appropriate use of the new revenue.
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“It’s a good use of casino money,” Treanor said. “All of the players around the casino all integrate with each other. If we have our three stations open, we have better depth where we can send an engine into the area around the casino and still protect our community here. On that basis it is a reasonable use of the funding for the overall good of all of the citizens in the area.”
Some of Central Fire’s money will be used to make up for the cost of providing service, as well as Rincon Valley’s property tax revenue lost when the tribe’s land was taken into federal trust in 2008. Williams said the money hasn’t been designated completely, but some will go toward Rincon Valley’s newest engine. Fire engines typically cost well over $500,000.
“We’re trying to analyze the whole thing, see what makes the most sense at this point in time,” Williams said.
The mitigation funds are spelled out in a gaming compact between the state and the tribe that included unprecedented funding for local government agencies. Tribal chairman Greg Sarris said it was important to ensure the casino pays for its impacts on the community.
“We understood that we were going to mitigate and have money set aside for any effects on public safety,” he said. “We wanted to make sure we would pay for any effects associated with the casino. I think we need to do that.”
Officials with the various agencies will continue to meet to coordinate their spending and make sure efforts are not being duplicated, said Chris Thomas, the assistant county administrator.
“It remains to be seen what needs are not met,” he said. “We want to make sure that services in the area are not reduced and we need to continue to think of ways to improve services.”
The bulk of the county’s undesignated mitigation payment could be used to provide additional supervision support for fire agencies that respond to the casino, officials said.
(page 4 of 4)
Rincon Valley doesn’t have a battalion chief in the area — theirs comes from headquarters at a shared Windsor fire station. Rohnert Park, which has a unique public safety department that combines fire and police services, doesn’t have a dedicated fire battalion chief and relies on Rancho Adobe and Rincon Valley for much of their supervising needs.
The Graton Resort and Casino reported $101 million in net revenue for its first quarter, which beat analysts’ expectations. But the grand jury said in its report that officials should closely manage the public safety mitigation money because it is tied to casino profits that could be affected by another recession or a new casino in the area.
“Were the casino to fail, the financial impact on Rohnert Park and the county could be serious,” the report said. “Rohnert Park and the county must be careful to allocate and expend mitigation funds in a way that does not create the likelihood of unfunded future obligations. Public safety and services generally could be adversely affected by a downturn in casino revenues.”
Fire officials said they are not counting on the money to make their operating budgets.
“You look at these types of (funding) sources, you have to be cautious,” said Williams. “You don’t know what the future holds. We’re not making new commitments that we can’t adjust to if it goes away.”
Some pointed to Geyserville Fire District in northern Sonoma County as a cautionary tale for relying on casino money to bolster a budget.
For a decade, the Dry Creek Rancheria, owners of River Rock Casino, had subsidized the nearby fire department to handle casino-related calls. The $336,000 total annual payment represented roughly one-third of the department’s $1 million annual budget.
But those payments ended a year ago when the tribe built its own fire station. As a result, Geyserville had to cut back from five full-time firefighters to three and reduce the number of part-timers.
“It’s exactly what happened to Geyserville,” Treanor said. “The fire department became acclimated to getting that, then all of a sudden, they took it away. The fire department is in big trouble. My job is to make sure we have a plan in place in case we don’t get the money.”
You can reach Staff Writers Randi Rossmann at 521-5412 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , and Matt Brown at 521-5206 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Some of Sonoma County’s struggling fire agencies are starting to cash in on profits from Sonoma County’s newest casino.
Money from the Graton Resort and Casino will allow the Rancho Adobe Fire Protection District to staff all three of its fire stations after nearly two years of having to keep one station closed on a rotating basis.
For the Central Fire Authority, which includes Rincon Valley and Windsor fire districts and land occupied by the casino, gambling profits will pay for a new fire engine. Rincon Valley lost property tax revenue to the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, which opened the casino just outside of Rohnert Park in November.
And to help it respond to emergency calls at the casino, the Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety is using the windfall laid out in agreements between the tribe and the city and county to build its first fire station west of Highway 101, near the 254-acre casino property. The city should have the $3.7 million it needs for the station within two years.
“The casino money will help in terms of our response times,” said Brian Masterson, director of public safety for Rohnert Park. “It will allow us to provide better protection, and it will allow us to build another resource for the county.”
The fire agencies averaged about 1.2 emergency calls a day at the casino in the first few months of operations, Central Fire Chief Doug Williams said. That number could rise once a hotel planned for the parcel comes online.
The Sonoma County grand jury issued a report last week saying public safety agencies should continue to use the money to offset the impacts of the casino on crime, traffic and emergency services, and cautioned that the money should not be counted on as a steady revenue stream for operations.
Key public safety and county administration officials began meeting months before the casino’s Nov. 5 opening to coordinate the emergency response at the Bay Area’s largest gambling center. Earlier this summer, they convened again, this time to debate and hash out a rough spending plan for the $1million in annual payments for fire agencies from the Graton Mitigation Fund.
They decided on $297,000 for Rancho Adobe, $334,000 for Central Fire and $20,000 for Sonoma County Fire Services. The Board of Supervisors, which approved the funding scheme last month, will allocate the rest of the money later this year.
“I think that, as we move forward, these discussions will intensify to make sure coverage is what we need it to be,” said David Rabbitt, chairman of the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors. “I’ve really been happy with the collaborative effort between agencies.”
Rohnert Park, which has its own $250 million, 20-year agreement with the tribe that includes public safety earmarks totaling $5 million, did not receive money from the county’s $1 million pool of fire protection funds but could in the future at the discretion of the Board of Supervisors.
Rancho Adobe Fire Chief Frank Treanor said he’ll start using the additional revenue quickly by opening the third station as soon as next week. The money isn’t enough to pay for three stations for a full year, though, so the agency will have to return to closing one on a rotating basis in November, he said.
Rancho Adobe fire officials have bemoaned the rolling closures, saying it has affected response times when the closest station to a call isn’t staffed. The cutbacks started in 2012 after a failed effort to raise property taxes to fund the fire district.
“I’m very happy for the citizens,” Treanor said. “They’re going to benefit. I’m very happy the casino is our neighbor and willing to work with the community to try and make everything a little bit better. We’ve been very concerned about the rolling outages. When we’re not (staffed) in that area, we’re not there as quickly as we could be.”
The casino has nothing to do with Rancho Adobe’s financial struggles, which have been exacerbated by a combination of a sluggish economy, a drop in property tax revenue and the rising cost of providing emergency services. But fire officials debating how to spend the money decided that, with the casino drawing from many county fire agencies’ resources, helping Rancho Adobe get back to three stations was an appropriate use of the new revenue.
“It’s a good use of casino money,” Treanor said. “All of the players around the casino all integrate with each other. If we have our three stations open, we have better depth where we can send an engine into the area around the casino and still protect our community here. On that basis it is a reasonable use of the funding for the overall good of all of the citizens in the area.”
Some of Central Fire’s money will be used to make up for the cost of providing service, as well as Rincon Valley’s property tax revenue lost when the tribe’s land was taken into federal trust in 2008. Williams said the money hasn’t been designated completely, but some will go toward Rincon Valley’s newest engine. Fire engines typically cost well over $500,000.
“We’re trying to analyze the whole thing, see what makes the most sense at this point in time,” Williams said.
The mitigation funds are spelled out in a gaming compact between the state and the tribe that included unprecedented funding for local government agencies. Tribal chairman Greg Sarris said it was important to ensure the casino pays for its impacts on the community.
“We understood that we were going to mitigate and have money set aside for any effects on public safety,” he said. “We wanted to make sure we would pay for any effects associated with the casino. I think we need to do that.”
Officials with the various agencies will continue to meet to coordinate their spending and make sure efforts are not being duplicated, said Chris Thomas, the assistant county administrator.
“It remains to be seen what needs are not met,” he said. “We want to make sure that services in the area are not reduced and we need to continue to think of ways to improve services.”
The bulk of the county’s undesignated mitigation payment could be used to provide additional supervision support for fire agencies that respond to the casino, officials said.
Rincon Valley doesn’t have a battalion chief in the area — theirs comes from headquarters at a shared Windsor fire station. Rohnert Park, which has a unique public safety department that combines fire and police services, doesn’t have a dedicated fire battalion chief and relies on Rancho Adobe and Rincon Valley for much of their supervising needs.
The Graton Resort and Casino reported $101 million in net revenue for its first quarter, which beat analysts’ expectations. But the grand jury said in its report that officials should closely manage the public safety mitigation money because it is tied to casino profits that could be affected by another recession or a new casino in the area.
“Were the casino to fail, the financial impact on Rohnert Park and the county could be serious,” the report said. “Rohnert Park and the county must be careful to allocate and expend mitigation funds in a way that does not create the likelihood of unfunded future obligations. Public safety and services generally could be adversely affected by a downturn in casino revenues.”
Fire officials said they are not counting on the money to make their operating budgets.
“You look at these types of (funding) sources, you have to be cautious,” said Williams. “You don’t know what the future holds. We’re not making new commitments that we can’t adjust to if it goes away.”
Some pointed to Geyserville Fire District in northern Sonoma County as a cautionary tale for relying on casino money to bolster a budget.
For a decade, the Dry Creek Rancheria, owners of River Rock Casino, had subsidized the nearby fire department to handle casino-related calls. The $336,000 total annual payment represented roughly one-third of the department’s $1 million annual budget.
But those payments ended a year ago when the tribe built its own fire station. As a result, Geyserville had to cut back from five full-time firefighters to three and reduce the number of part-timers.
“It’s exactly what happened to Geyserville,” Treanor said. “The fire department became acclimated to getting that, then all of a sudden, they took it away. The fire department is in big trouble. My job is to make sure we have a plan in place in case we don’t get the money.”
You can reach Staff Writers Randi Rossmann at 521-5412 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , and Matt Brown at 521-5206 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
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