To: Board of Supervisors
Department or Agency Name(s): County Administrator
Staff Name and Phone Number: Christel Querijero 565-7071
Vote Requirement: Majority
Supervisorial District(s): Countywide
Title:
Title
Sheriff's Office Helicopter Program Update and Options
End
Recommended Action:
Recommended action
Receive report and provide direction to staff.
end
Executive Summary:
Due to lower revenue projections in Fiscal Year 2020-21, the County Administrator asked departments to propose a list of reductions to services and positions to balance their budgets. Facing an $8 million deficit, the Sheriff’s Office included the Helicopter Program on its list of proposed reductions. During Budget Hearings, the Board of Supervisors agreed to use one-time funds to maintain the Helicopter Program for a period of two fiscal years, ending in June 2022. As the end of the two-year period approaches, County Administrator staff have coordinated with the Sheriff’s Office, Sonoma County Fire, CAL FIRE, and the EMS Ad Hoc to review the Helicopter Program’s background, flight data, costs, and considered alternative funding approaches, including Joint Powers Authority (JPA) or Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with other agencies and charging fees for helicopter services. Based on staff’s findings and due to limited discretionary funding available, the County Administrator is recommending that the Board continue to fund the program for one more year, while other helicopter resources become available in the region, and then terminate the program beginning July 2023.
Discussion:
History of the Sheriff’s Helicopter Program
The Sheriff Office’s Helicopter Program was founded in 1974. From 1974 through 1983, the Program was County-owned and operated. Pilots were deputies who had prior flight experience, and the aircraft was owned and maintained by the County. However, following two fatal accidents and significant mechanical issues with the previous County-owned aircraft, the County began contracting for helicopter services in 1983. In July 2007, the helicopter service provider at the time, Aviation Securities, Inc., terminated its agreement seven years prior to the contractual end date. This was the fourth time since 1989 that a helicopter vendor terminated its contract early. That year, the Sheriff directed staff to research and evaluate options for a County-owned and operated helicopter program. The Sheriff’s Office found that vendors tended to terminate their contracts early after they had recouped their initial capital investment from the County. The Sheriff believed that this pattern would continue if the County didn’t increase the helicopter service agreement budgets to make them more attractive to prospective contractors. The Sheriff’s Office found that contracting for helicopter services led to a number of other issues, including the contractor’s inability to recruit and retain qualified pilots, inability to provide the level of helicopter availability specified in the contract, and higher costs. Below is the cost analysis conducted in 2007 comparing the budget for contracted services at the time to the proposed County-owned and operated program.
|
|
Contracted Services FY07-08 Budget |
County Owned Program |
|
Helicopter Financing Costs |
$215,880 |
$253,533 |
|
Property Taxes |
$12,876 |
$0 |
|
Liability Insurance |
$89,000 |
$71,745 |
|
Maintenance |
$237,092 |
$238,424 |
|
Salaries & Benefits (includes OT) |
$514,003 |
$736,447 |
|
Pilot Training |
$16,026 |
$16,026 |
|
Contractor Overhead & Profit |
$264,387 |
$0 |
|
Consultant Services |
$0 |
$10,000 |
|
|
$1,349,264 |
$1,326,176 |
|
|
|
|
|
Cost Savings with In-House Proposal |
$23,088 |
Source: 2007 Sheriff’s Office Helicopter Restructuring Report
In 2008, the Board of Supervisors approved the plan for the Sheriff’s Office to bring the Helicopter Program in-house, and the County acquired the 1996 Bell 407 helicopter previously utilized by the County’s helicopter service provider, Aviation Securities, Inc.
In 2015, the Sheriff proposed the replacement of the aging helicopter before a major maintenance overhaul was required at 10,000 flight hours. In February 2018, after receiving Board authorization, the County purchased a new Bell 407GXP helicopter (Henry 1). Henry 1 is equipped with vertical reference long line rescue capabilities, which allows for the rescue of individuals up to 200 feet below without needing to hoist a crewmember down to retrieve the individual. The Sheriff’s Helicopter Program, and its highly trained and skilled pilots, have been an extremely useful asset in search and rescue missions in the region. Henry 1 can complete rescues at night and in very remote areas, when fire and medical ground crews cannot access the patient due to terrain or response distance.
There are four County Sheriff agencies in California with comparable helicopter operations: Contra Costa County, Stanislaus County, Ventura County and Placer County. However, there are differences in budget, helicopter type and quantity, staffing, geographic area, and mission types. Most notably, Sonoma County is the only agency performing vertical reference long line rescues, as opposed to hoist rescues. Sonoma County also performs more water rescues due to its geographical area.
Fiscal Year 2020-21 Budget Hearing Actions
In FY 2020-21 the County Administrator asked departments to submit a list of reductions for the Board to review. Due to budgetary limitations over the last 14 years, the Sheriff’s Office has had to focus on providing mandated services. Since FY 06-07, the Sheriff’s Office has lost a net of 80.2 positions and reduced or eliminated multiple programs, including the Community Oriented Policing team, Gang Task Force, Narcotics Unit, Criminal Intelligence Unit, and Graffiti Abatement. For context, the loss of 80.2 positions represents roughly a 10% reduction in the Sheriff’s workforce, which is similar to FTE reductions seen in other departments since FY 06-07, including Information Systems Department and Permit Sonoma. When faced with the direction to reduce over $8 million in expenditures in FY 20-21, the Sheriff offered the Helicopter Program for reduction because it is not a mandated service. During Budget Hearings, in which the Sheriff’s Office lost 5 vacant positions, the Board agreed to use one-time funds to maintain the Helicopter Program for a period of two fiscal years, ending in June 2022.
As we near the end of the two-year funding for the Helicopter Program, County Administrator Office staff have been coordinating with the Sheriff’s Office, Sonoma County Fire, CAL FIRE, and the EMS Ad Hoc to review Helicopter Program history, costs, and flight data to determine what kinds of incidents Henry 1 responds to the most and where there is possible duplication with other helicopter assets in the region. Staff also considered alternative funding approaches, including Joint Powers Authority (JPA) or Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with other agencies and charging fees for services. Below is a summary of staff’s findings.
Henry 1 Workload and Flight Log Data
Staff reviewed Henry 1’s workload data for the previous five years and it is clear that the majority of Henry 1’s calls are for either Law Enforcement (58%) or Search and Rescue (21%). The remaining 21% of calls are a combination of Medical Service (2%), Fire Suppression (4%), and Other Details (15%), which includes trainings, mechanical testing and maintenance flights, demonstration flights, and special assignments (See Attachment 1).
Diving deeper into the CAD flight log details reveals more patterns on the type of incidents and origins of calls (See Attachment 2). Nearly 40% of all flights logged into the CAD system are for Agency Assists or Outside Agency calls. Per the table below, the most frequent Outside Agency calls originate from Marin County. Of the calls that originate in Marin County, 89% are for search and rescue at either Dillon Beach or Tomales Bay. However, on average, 47% of those calls are cancelled prior to Henry 1 reaching that destination.
|
Outside Agency Calls By Origin |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
Jan-Aug 2021 |
Total |
|
Lake County |
1 |
4 |
2 |
4 |
11 |
|
Napa County |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
|
Marin County |
39 |
58 |
53 |
25 |
175 |
|
Mendocino County |
2 |
4 |
3 |
3 |
12 |
|
Solano County |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
City of Santa Rosa |
6 |
6 |
19 |
9 |
40 |
|
Other Cities in Sonoma County |
4 |
17 |
3 |
6 |
30 |
|
Other Counties |
1 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
4 |
|
Total |
56 |
90 |
83 |
47 |
276 |
*Source: Sheriff’s Office CAD Flight Log Data 2018-Aug 2021
As can be seen, some Outside Agency calls originate from other jurisdictions within Sonoma County. An average of 16% of all Henry 1 calls are responding to incidents outside of County lines.
|
Total Calls From Outside County |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
Jan-Aug 2021 |
Total |
|
Outside Agency Calls |
46 |
67 |
61 |
32 |
206 |
|
Agency Assist Calls |
3 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
8 |
|
|
49 |
67 |
61 |
37 |
214 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
% of Total Calls |
16% |
18% |
14% |
15% |
16% |
*Source: Sheriff’s Office CAD Flight Log Data 2018-Aug 2021
Law Enforcement
More than half of Henry 1’s workload is for law enforcement missions. While a portion of that workload is to assist other agencies, there would be a significant impact to the Sheriff’s law enforcement operations in the County’s unincorporated areas without Henry 1. Government Code § 26600 states that the Sheriff’s duty is to preserve the peace and to prevent crime. While aerial law enforcement is not a mandated service, having Henry 1 is extremely useful in emergency situations, vehicle and nighttime pursuits, in rural and coastal areas, and in enhancing deputy safety. Without Henry 1, as with the search and rescue functions, the Sheriff would need to rely on ground crews and drones, when appropriate, or potentially not be equipped to respond to the situation.
The Sheriff’s Office has nine drones and the Sonoma Police Department (served by the Sheriff’s Office under contract) has two drones. The drones were acquired through a mix of General Fund purchases, donations, and grant funding. There are a total of ten licensed drone operators (including Sonoma Police Department) at the Sheriff’s Office. Each drone can provide a live feed to the drone pilot and a command post through a phone, tablet or monitor. Two of the units have the capability to illuminate an area at night with a light attachment and can upload a voice message that can be delivered through an attached speaker. A few of the drones have an integrated digital zoom feature.
Drones are very useful with planned events, such as protests and other large gatherings and, if a drone is readily available, can be effective in “foot bails” when individuals leave a scene on foot. They also work well in urban and suburban areas where a “line of sight” can be maintained. However, the FAA requires that the drone operator must maintain a visual “line of sight” of the drone at all times, which limits drone capabilities in many instances. This is particularly true in Sonoma County’s rural, wooded areas. Drones also can’t be used on vehicle pursuits, emergency insertion or staff evacuation, or rescue missions where it is necessary to save a life, such as a cliff rescue.
If the Board decides to terminate the Helicopter Program, the Sheriff would request additional budget support for ground-based law enforcement operations.
Other Helicopter Assets in Region
Because a good amount of Henry 1 calls are for search and rescue within Sonoma County or assisting an Outside Agency, staff evaluated what other helicopter assets in the area would be available to respond to an incident in Sonoma County, if needed. Below is a summary of the assets available and their capabilities.
1. Sonoma County Fire REACH Aircraft
Sonoma County Fire recently approved a new contract with Redwood Empire Air Care Helicopter (REACH) for a joint, all-risk, year-round helicopter program that will be capable of medical, fire reconnaissance and suppression, and aerial search and rescue operations. The new “all-risk” helicopter has been delivered and is going through a 6-month buildup process. Sonoma County Fire expects the new aircraft to be in service by July 2022. Initially, it will be capable of performing emergency medical missions, day and night aerial reconnaissance missions, and search missions with Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) technology. By around September 2022, it will be capable of performing aerial firefighting missions. The new all-risk helicopter program will also have vertical reference long line rescue capabilities, originally expected to be online January 2023. However, due to the extensive training necessary and FAA certification required to perform this type of rescue, the aircraft will not be capable of long line rescue until sometime in 2024.
It should be noted that REACH is a for-profit operator and must get special clearances prior to launching their aircraft. Under their partnership with Sonoma County Fire, they could declare they are launching under a Public Aircraft Operation (PAO) mission, and forgo special clearances. However, this may impact their ability to be financially compensated for transporting patients under public aircraft rules (see Charging Fees for Services section below for more details), and therefore could seek that reimbursement from the County. More discussions with Sonoma County Fire and REACH would be needed to determine if financial compensation would be required.
2. CAL FIRE’s Fire Hawk
CAL FIRE’s Fire Hawk (C104) is stationed at CAL FIRE LNU Bogg’s Mountain Helitack Base in Cobb, CA. The Fire Hawk is not necessarily available year round. When staffed during fire season, the crew consists of a pilot, two Fire Captains and 5-6 Helitack Firefighters. Although the new Fire Hawk, which replaced the Type 2 Huey in July 2021, is capable of night flying, CAL FIRE’s operating plan requires both a one-year daylight flying break-in period for the new helicopters and additional training for the pilots and the flight crew before night capabilities will be implemented. CAL FIRE will have night flying helicopters available 24/7 in the future, but the date and location of the night flying helicopters is still to be determined.
CAL FIRE’s primary helicopter mission is fire suppression and life safety of the firefighters. If their helicopter is committed to an incident, it may not be readily available for another mission until the current incident is mitigated. Additionally, the Fire Hawk is generally only available during fire season. In the off-season, the helicopter may be relocated for annual maintenance at CAL FIRE’s Aviation Management Unit facility at the Sacramento McClellan Airport.
CAL FIRE’s flight crews are highly trained and experienced at performing hoist rescue missions. Additionally, response times have shortened with the new Fire Hawk, which has built-in hoist rescue equipment. However, CAL FIRE’s ability to respond to an incident in Sonoma County will depend on the type of request and availability of their helicopter.
3. California Highway Patrol (CHP) and Coast Guard
The CHP’s helicopter is based out of Napa County Airport and covers multiple counties and jurisdictions. From dispatch to arrival, it would take approximately 30-40 for a CHP helicopter to respond to an incident in Sonoma County. The Coast Guard’s helicopters are based out of San Francisco International Airport (SFO), and like the CHP, cover multiple jurisdictions. Under normal circumstances, they maintain a B-0 status, which means that they are expected to be airborne transiting toward the point of distress within 30 minutes of the dispatch call. It takes another 30 minutes for the helicopter to get from SFO to the Santa Rosa Airport. For missions outside of the scope of maritime search and rescue, they are required to get additional district level permissions. Therefore, the time from launch to respond to an incident in Sonoma County is likely to exceed 30 minutes.
Both the CHP and Coast Guard are capable of assisting the County for coastal and inland search and rescue missions, with some limitations:
• They have limited assets and cover a wide geographical region, and can only respond if they aren’t already on another call.
• Response times would be longer than Henry 1 or Sonoma County Fire REACH.
• Neither CHP or Coast Guard have vertical reference long line rescue capabilities, and the CHP is not able to perform hoist rescues at night.
Below is a summary of the helicopter assets in the region, where they are located, the approximate time, in minutes, that it would take them to respond to an incident in Sonoma County, and what capabilities they have. Travel times are very dependent on the location of the incident, weather conditions, availability of the asset, and required clearance to lift off, if other than Henry 1, which does not require any outside clearances to lift off.
|
|
|
|
Capabilities |
|
Agency |
Location |
Travel Time (including Lift Off) |
Long Line SAR |
Hoist SAR |
EMS |
FireB |
Law |
|
Sonoma County Sheriff |
Sonoma County Airport |
13-15 mins |
X |
|
X |
XC |
X |
|
Sonoma County Fire REACH |
Sonoma County Airport |
17-19 mins |
XA |
|
X |
X |
|
|
Contra Costa REACH |
Buchanan Field Airport |
17-25 mins |
|
X |
X |
X |
|
|
CAL FIRE |
Boggs Mt. Helitack Base |
16-35 mins |
|
X |
|
X |
|
|
California Highway Patrol |
Napa County Airport |
30-40 mins |
|
X |
X |
x |
X |
|
Coast Guard |
SFO |
1 hour |
|
X |
X |
x |
|
A Sonoma County Fire REACH expects to be long line capable in 2024
B X = fire suppression capabilities x = fire reconnaissance capabilities
C Henry 1 has fire suppression abilities but is limited by the size of bambi bucket and aircraft
Even with helicopter support from outside agencies, the Sheriff is legally mandated, under Gov’t Code § 26614, to provide search and rescue services within the County. Therefore, if the helicopter program were to be terminated, it is expected that the Sheriff would need to expand upon its ground-based search and rescue operations.
Agreements with Other Agencies
Staff looked into the potential to enter into a MOU or JPA with another agency for helicopter coverage in search and rescue missions. There are other law enforcement agencies in the regions with helicopter programs. However, those programs are largely fully subscribed, with little additional capacity to support Sonoma County, and not all have search and rescue capabilities. For instance, both Contra Costa and Santa Clara Counties have hoist capabilities, but their helicopter units are either fully subscribed or limited to missions within their County. Alameda County, on the other hand, has a helicopter but it does not have hoist capabilities. Both San Jose and Oakland Police Departments have helicopters, but they are limited to law enforcement missions within their cities.
Any formal cost sharing agreement would have to align with state regulations for search and rescue missions. Cost sharing between counties and cities is statutorily regulated in Government Code § 26614.5, and search and rescue mutual aid is governed by CalOES’ Law Enforcement Branch. These cost sharing and mutual aid regulations make agreements with agencies like the Coast Guard and California Highway Patrol particularly challenging. Staff also considered a cost sharing arrangement with the County of Marin, as the biggest source of outside agency calls. But because nearly half of those calls are cancelled prior to Henry 1 arriving on scene, as well as mutual aid considerations, this option was not pursued further.
Charging Fees for Henry 1 Services
As part of the County Administrator’s analysis of potential funding sources for the helicopter program, staff took another look into whether or not the County could charge fees for Henry 1 services.
Emergency Medical Service (EMS) and Fire calls are governed by Health & Safety Code 13916, which permits fire districts to charge fees for their services. It is very common for fire districts to charge fees for EMS/Fire incidents, and costs are often picked up by insurance. For example, the Modesto Fire Department recently hired a third party vendor to collect money from responsible (at-fault) parties’ insurance companies for insured events, such as auto accidents, fires etc. The use of Henry 1 for EMS and/or Fire calls is limited. Henry 1 has limited equipment to respond to fires, and is typically called off as soon as CAL FIRE responds. For EMS calls, Henry 1 is not allowed to operate under air ambulance regulations. If Henry 1 picks up a person needing medical attention in a search and rescue event, the person is typically only flown to the nearest location where medical ground or air transport can take over to provide medical care. Henry 1 would transport a person to the hospital only in life or death situations where no other medical transport is available.
Search and Rescue (SAR) calls are governed by Government Code 26614 and fee recovery options are much more limited. Gov’t Code 26614.5 permits the County to charge a fee for the rescue of out-of-County residents, which has to be billed directly to the county or city of the person being searched for or rescued. Conversely, if a Sonoma County resident requires SAR services in another county or city, Sonoma County could be charged by that other entity for the SAR costs.
There are very limited circumstances where a County can bill a resident directly for SAR costs. Gov’t Codes 26614.6 and 26614.7 cap fee recovery at $12,000, and AB-896 (passed in 2015) specifies that a County can only bill a resident for SAR costs if the following conditions were met:
1. Use of extraordinary methods to perform search and rescue; and
2. Caused by an intentional act in knowing violation of any federal or state law or local ordinance that resulted in a criminal conviction of that person for that act.
According to the Sheriff, only one incident in recent years fits the conditions above. Further, when the District Attorney convicts a resident of a crime that involved Henry 1’s services, the District Attorney includes the Sheriff’s costs into restitution calculations. If the County contracted out its SAR services to an outside agency, like Sonoma County Fire/REACH, the provisions of Gov’t Code 26614 would still apply.
Cost Analysis
The new helicopter was purchased for $5,190,166 and was funded using a combination of asset forfeiture, grants and a loan for $2,300,000. The annual capital lease payments vary slightly each year, but are roughly $230,000 a year. The projected cost for Fiscal Year 2022-23 is $2,372,757, which consists mostly of salaries and benefits for 4 FTEs (See Attachment 3).
If the County were to terminate the Sheriff’s Helicopter Program and surplus the Bell407GXP, a portion of the $2,790,166 Asset Forfeiture and $100,000 Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) grant funds would need to be repaid. Asset Forfeiture funds represented 54% of the total financing amount, so 54% of the surplus revenue would be repaid to the fund. However, these funds would be available for the Sheriff to use for future law enforcement needs. It is very difficult to predict what the County could surplus Henry 1 for, but if we assumed a $1 million sale price, approximately $540,000 would be returned to Asset Forfeiture and $20,000 would be returned to the UASI Grant. We would also need to pay off the remaining balance of the capital lease. When executed in 2018, the capital lease included a lock out period, which prevented termination for 12 months. We have passed this lock out period. If we terminate the lease in June 2023, we would owe the lessor $1,231,662 (See Attachment 4). This brings the total one-time cost to $1,788,516. However, when you factor in the annual budget savings and remaining proceeds from the helicopter surplus, the net savings to the budget in the first year is an estimated $666,488, with an on-going savings of roughly $1.8 million per year starting in Fiscal Year 23-24. This preserves nearly $600,000 of ongoing General Fund contribution to the Sheriff that can be redirected to other programs, including ground based law enforcement operations.
It should be noted that termination of the Sheriff’s Helicopter Program would lead to layoffs. Currently, the Program has 4 FTEs. However, due to sworn vacancies within the Sheriff’s Office, it is possible that two of the four staff will be able to find other positions within the Office and avoid being laid off. The first year savings stated above factors in three months of salaries and benefits in FY 22-23 for Human Resources to complete their layoff procedures. The County Administrator and Sheriff would work with Human Resources, where appropriate, based on the Board of Supervisor’s direction today.
County Administrator Recommendation
The County has limited discretionary resources at its disposal, and faces a number of upcoming critical needs. Among them is the Behavioral Health Housing Unit (BHHU) at the Main Adult Detention Facility (MADF). The BHHU is expected to open in FY 2024-25, with estimated staffing costs of approximately $8 million per year. Based on staff’s analysis, limited budget availability, and the fact that Henry 1 is not a mandated service, the County Administrator is recommending that the Helicopter Program be funded for one more year and then eliminated beginning July 2023.
In order to prepare for the BHHU staffing costs, the County Administrator’s Office will recommend that at least $4 million in ongoing funding be set aside in the FY 22-23 Budget to prepare to support the BHHU. Because this funding will not be required for staffing in FY 22-23, a portion of it could be used to fund the Helicopter Program for an additional year, while maintaining the ongoing funding capacity for the BHHU when it is required. This additional year of program funding would allow time for the County to continue discussions with Sonoma County Fire, and other nearby agencies with helicopter programs, about their availability to provide search and rescue services to the County. It would also allow the Sheriff time to evaluate their Law Enforcement needs without Henry 1 and bring a recommendation to the Board to support these missions.
Strategic Plan:
N/A
Prior Board Actions:
August 26, 2008 - Sheriff’s Helicopter Program Restructuring Recommendation
August 22, 2017 - Sheriff’s Helicopter Program and Helicopter Replacement Project Update
June 15, 2020 - Fiscal Year 2020-21 Budget Hearings
Fiscal Summary
|
Expenditures |
FY 21-22 Adopted |
FY22-23 Projected |
FY 23-24 Projected |
|
Budgeted Expenses |
|
$2,372,757 |
|
|
Additional Appropriation Requested |
|
|
|
|
Total Expenditures |
|
$2,372,757 |
|
|
Funding Sources |
|
|
|
|
General Fund/WA GF |
|
$2,372,757 |
|
|
State/Federal |
|
|
|
|
Fees/Other |
|
|
|
|
Use of Fund Balance |
|
|
|
|
Contingencies |
|
|
|
|
Total Sources |
|
$2,372,757 |
|
Narrative Explanation of Fiscal Impacts:
If the staff recommendation is approved, funding of $2,372,757 will be included in the FY 2022-23 Budget. This includes $1,773,796 of one-time funding and $598,961 of ongoing General Fund contribution.
|
Staffing Impacts: |
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|
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Position Title (Payroll Classification) |
Monthly Salary Range (A-I Step) |
Additions (Number) |
Deletions (Number) |
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Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impacts (If Required):
Click or tap here to enter text.
Attachments:
1 - Workload Data
2 - CAD Flight Log Data
3 - Cost Analysis
4 - Payment Schedule
5 - Presentation
Related Items “On File” with the Clerk of the Board:
None