Negotiations will continue on a new fire services contract agreement among the City of Hollister, San Benito County and San Juan Bautista, after Hollister’s city council this week rejected the latest offer from the other two jurisdictions.
At the April 21 Hollister council meeting, the body refused to budge on a counter offer—submitted jointly by the county and San Juan Bautista—that would renew the contract with a reduction of firefighter staffing from three to two personnel at Fire Station 3 at the Hollister airport. The joint offer also includes annual payments that are significantly less than Hollister’s latest proposal.
The council previously approved negotiating parameters that include a minimum of three staff at all stations operated by the City of Hollister.
Even though the clock is ticking toward the conclusion of the current contract, council members agreed the city should continue to try to negotiate with the county and San Juan Bautista.
“We are better (with) three staffing and not browning out stations,” Council member Rudy Picha said. “It will cost money but we’ll provide better service at a better rate if we just work together.”
The City of Hollister has provided fire protection through a contract for the county and San Juan Bautista since 2013. The contracts were renegotiated in 2016 and 2019.
Negotiations for the next renewal—which began several months ago—have been complicated by rising costs for fire service. County supervisors have said they cannot afford to pay what Hollister is asking; Hollister officials have complained that the county has not been paying its fair share under previous contracts.
For the 2023-24 fiscal year, the county paid $2.2 million for the services and San Juan Bautista paid about $260,000 into a fire budget of almost $14 million. Hollister was left to contribute the rest.
Negotiations have ramped up since March 24, when the council approved a 270-day notice to terminate the existing contract for fire protection services for the county and San Juan Bautista.
Hollister’s latest offer, approved by the council April 7, asks the county and San Juan Bautista to jointly increase their payment to Hollister for fire services by $3.9 million in 2025-26—bringing the total cost shared by the two entities to about $6.5 million for the first year of the new proposed contract.
Public discussion of the ongoing negotiation process has included accusations and innuendos. At the April 21 Hollister council meeting, Council member Dolores Morales suggested that the county has improperly allocated public funds and Hollister officials might want to sue the county for an unspecified reason.
“I think we should consider asking the state controller’s office to conduct an audit on these (county) fees,” Morales said. “If the county is redirecting these funds then we should know that as taxpayers. If we do not move forward we should take other measures like potentially filing a lawsuit.”
Morales did not offer any data or examples of improper spending.
Council member Rolan Resendiz said Morales’ comments were politically motivated.
“You’re talking about suing the county or forcing an audit—that is too much. That’s not how we need to be leading our community. That is politicizing the issue, causing more division when we have to keep a level head and continue working with our partners in good faith,” Resendiz said.
Council members continue to note that the City of Hollister—like the county and San Juan Bautista—are significantly challenged by the rising costs of fire services with no sign that incoming revenues will increase enough to cover those costs.
Fair share?
Hollister Fire Chief Jonathan Goulding at the April 21 meeting summarized his staff’s methodology in determining a fair cost for services for the county and San Juan Bautista. He also emphasized that fire and EMS would be best delivered in the region with a stable partnership among the three jurisdictions, instead of each trying to meet these public safety needs on their own.
To calculate the division of costs for the five-year contract proposal that the council previously approved as “Option E,” Goulding said his staff analyzed the volume of calls during the past year, how many firefighters and staff responded to each call and how much time they spent responding to each call.
This analysis concluded that about 60% of those calls were within Hollister’s city limits, Goulding said. He added the analysis shows “there is a benefit” to Hollister’s partnership with the county and San Juan Bautista as it ensures that fire stations outside the city limits are fully staffed.
“I truly believe that we are better off working together. If we do split apart, we are going to increase our costs and decrease our services,” Goulding told the council.
Resendiz and Mayor Roxanne Stephens comprise an ad hoc committee formed by the council earlier this year to represent Hollister in the negotiations.
Earlier this month, the county and San Juan Bautista were asked to meet on their own to jointly submit a counter offer to Hollister. That counter offer was submitted on April 17, with the county proposing to increase its annual rate to about $3.4 million for 2025-26, increasing 3% annually throughout the five-year contract—among other provisions.
San Juan Bautista in the April 17 proposal offered to increase its cost to $418,279 for the first year, increasing by 11% annually through 2028.
Additional provisions of Hollister’s Option E—now the only offer on the table—include a one-time payment of $1.15 million from the county and San Juan Bautista to cover fire service costs during the “prolonged negotiation period;” quarterly reimbursement to Hollister for development review and inspection services; and the county’s reimbursement for Hollister’s use of the Santa Cruz Regional 911 system.
At the same time they are trying to reach an agreement on imminent expenses, the three jurisdictions have partnered to conduct a Fire District Feasibility Study with the City of San Juan Bautista serving as the lead agency, says a City of Hollister staff report. The City of San Juan Bautista recently awarded a contract to Baker Tilly.
That project will be overseen by the Fire Protection Advisory Committee, which is composed of two elected officials from each of the three jurisdictions.
