Public Safety Financing: CCFA FAQs

The Dumont, Empire, Georgetown, Idaho Springs, Silver Plume, Saint Mary’s Glacier, and York Gulch fire departments agreed to consolidate their efforts under a single organizational structure in 1998. The authority assumed responsibility for providing fire protection on January 1, 1999, and has provided coordinated fire protection services to the community for the last 25 years. 

Clear Creek Fire Authority (CCFA) is a consolidated fire protection and emergency service agency serving the municipalities of Empire, Georgetown, Idaho Springs, and Silver Plume and the unincorporated lands of Clear Creek County,  Colorado,  previously represented by the Clear Creek County Emergency Services General Improvement District (ESGID).

The authority was formed under an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) among the Clear Creek County Emergency Services General Improvement District (ESGID) and the each of the municipalities (IGA Parties). CCFA is considered a separate legal entity from the IGA Parties.

The ESGID is a general improvement district formed pursuant to C.R.S. § 30-20-501, et seq.  

General Improvement Districts are formed to, among other things, support capital projects and other expenses of providing fire protection and other emergency services in unincorporated parts of a county. The ESGID is a separate legal entity from Clear Creek County, except that the Clear Creek County Board of County Commissioners also serves as the Board of Directors for the ESGID. The ESGID assesses its own mill levy and provides the funds collected to the CCFA for the services relating to fire protection.

The Clear Creek Fire Authority is primarily funded through a 4.569 mill levy collected by the ESGID in the county's unincorporated areas. Each municipality within the authority provides funds equal to 9 mills to CCFA. The authority also has limited revenue from contract services and grants. The ESGID mill levy was set in 1989 when volunteers entirely staffed the county’s fire service. This mill rate has not been changed since its inception. 

For example, a residential property owner with a $500,000 assessed valuation would pay the following amounts:

• 4.569 mills would be $154,55 (current assessed rate for the ESGID)
• 9.0 mills would be $304.43 (current assessed rate for Silver Plume residents)
• 11.459 mills would be $383.87 (current assessed rate for residents of Evergreen Fire Rescue district boundaries)

The Empire, Georgetown, and Idaho Springs municipalities do not have a fire-specific mill levy and contribute from their general fund at the 9.0 mill level.

A mill levy is a tax rate applied to a property's assessed value. The mill levies, which is sometimes referred to simply as a ‘levy,’ is multiplied by the assessed value of a property to determine the amount of taxes due. 

Click here to learn more: https://dpt.colorado.gov/understanding-property-taxes-in-colorado

The only alternative funding source beyond increasing the ESGID mill levy would be a separate public safety tax passed by voters in an election. Both funding options will require voter approval.

The revenue from ESGID has steadily declined over the last ten years due to Henderson Mine's reduced property value evaluation. During this same period, the annual call response demands have increased by 55 percent. The district’s projected Fiscal Year 2025 operating deficit is $624,000.  Revenues dropped below annual operating expenses beginning in 2021. The authority has used portions of its $5.5 million cash reserves to address yearly budget shortfalls while adjusting its staffing model to meet the community's needs.  In short, without new revenues, the authority’s reserve will be exhausted by 2029. Depleting the authority’s reserve will force significant reductions in all aspects of service delivery.

Several factors cause the authority’s funding shortfall:

• The operating costs associated with apparatus maintenance, fuel,  and personal protective equipment have steadily increased over the previous five years. The annual response demand has increased by 25 percent yearly during this period.
•  Transition to paid firefighters: Since 2021, the authority has begun adding paid firefighters as volunteer staffing has become less viable for the agency's staffing needs.
•  Wildfire risk: The increasing risk has required CCFA to bring on additional equipment and hire a seasonal mitigation crew to help reduce wildfire fuels.

CCFA faces several significant challenges impacting current and future operations and finances. Without additional revenue the authority will not be able to maintain its current service levels. The following challenges will require additional funding:

• Declining or stagnant participation by in county volunteer fire personnel has necessitated volunteer shift staffing, which is provided using out-of-county volunteer firefighters. These firefighters receive a $70 shift stipend, resulting in an annual operational expense of $126,000.  For perspective,  CCFA is projected to cover 1,800 shifts per year. There is a need for a total $255,000 to cover the authority's goal of 3,650 shifts per year.
• Additional career staffing and increased personnel costs are needed to ensure appropriate minimal incident response.
• Apparatus and equipment repair and purchase costs continue to rise dramatically.
• Fire stations that need repairs and upgrades to keep staff safe and to control annual operating costs.
• CCFA must develop sufficient capital reserves to replace the aging Idaho Springs fire station. The station consists of a small brick gas station with two block-wall additions in the 1960s and 1970s. It is undersized for current apparatus and does not have any health and safety systems to reduce firefighter cancer risk.

  
  

One of the authority's most impactful issues is its ongoing staffing model. Currently, the authority is staffed with a mix of paid, full-time, and volunteer firefighters.

CCFA daily staffing levels are as follows:

• Station 4 in Georgetown: 24/7 with a career Lieutenant and firefighter
• Station 2 in Idaho Springs: 24/7 with a minimum of a career Lieutenant and firefighter. Two shift firefighters provide additional staffing for a total daily staffing level of four (shift staffing depends on volunteer availability)
• Station 1 in Dumont: has one career Captain, 7:00 AM -5:00 PM, seven days a week. There are two shift firefighter positions on the engine, and one shift officer position on the chase truck (shift staffing depends on volunteer availability)

The staffing goal is to have nine personnel 24/7 staffing four apparatus out of three stations. To reach this goal, the shift firefighters need to work 3,650 shifts per year. The department currently is projected to cover 1,800 shifts per year.

CCFA staff includes 16 career staff: two fire chiefs, two captains, six lieutenants, and six career firefighters. The authority also relies on one volunteer captain, three lieutenants, and 30 volunteer firefighters. Most volunteer firefighters live outside of the county and provide staffing through duty shifts. The authority also employs a three-person seasonal wildfire crew during the summer. CCFA started a paid-shift program in 2010 to maintain appropriate staffing levels due to a lack of volunteers available to serve the authority.  County resident volunteer numbers have dropped significantly over the previous 10 years due to increasing costs of living, lack of housing, retirements, and other factors in the area.

The bottom line is that the CCFA needs to be more competitive with its pay to keep staff; otherwise, this will continue to be an issue.

CCFA provides emergency services to the Empire, Georgetown, Idaho Springs, and Silver Plume municipalities,  along with most of Clear Creek County's unincorporated areas within the Emergency Services General Improvement District (ESGID) boundaries.

CCFA provides a high level of service to more than 6,000 residents and businesses across the authority’s 348-square-mile service area. This includes service along the Interstate 70 (I-70) corridor,  US-6 Clear Creek Canyon and Loveland Pass, US-40 on Floyd Hill,  Berthoud Pass, and Arapahoe National Forest and river areas. 

The authority answered 1,460 emergency calls in 2023 and 1,800 calls in 2024. Of those calls, CCFA responded with a minimum crew of two within eight minutes, 33 percent of the time in 2023, and 50 percent of the time in 2024.

Data shows that almost 29 percent of emergency service calls in Clear Creek County are due to accidents or incidents on I-70, US-40, and US-6. About 48,000 vehicles pass through the Floyd Hill section of I-70 and 38,000 Eisenhower Tunnel daily.  In addition to I-70, 8,000 vehicles travel over Berthoud Pass,  along with 2,000 vehicles over Loveland Pass daily, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT). This creates a significant strain on local emergency responders.

It is also important to note that Evergreen Fire/Rescue serves 48 square miles in the southeast portion of the county.

In 2023, the ESGID,  Clear Creek County, and its municipalities began working together to address CCFA’s funding. That work included hiring MissionCIT,  an independent consulting firm, to conduct an organizational assessment of CCFA.  You can read that assessment here.

In response to this report, throughout 2024, the ESGID, the county,  and each of the municipalities met bi-weekly to discuss how to approach these issues. This was a complicated task, and after many meetings, it was determined that the problem likely would not be solved without additional revenue being asked from the voters via a possible public safety tax. Stakeholders are evaluating whether a public safety sales tax, property tax increase, or combination of both is the best way forward.

In late 2024, a survey was sent to all county residents to solicit feedback about the next steps. This outreach, in addition to social media, frequent meetings, and other collaborations, will help partners figure out the next steps.

Currently, the ESGID,  Clear Creek County, Idaho Springs, Georgetown, Empire, and Silver Plume stakeholders and public safety responders are working on a plan for public outreach and continued stakeholder meetings throughout 2025. More to come!

Clear Creek Fire Authority website: https://www.clearcreekfire.com/ 

Past meetings on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrUgY0w234Ze0ZbMO1sV1keHPOI2V2g_V 

 MissionCIT Report: https://irp.cdn- website.com/28bcbb3b/files/uploaded/missioncit %20final.pdf

 2024 Survey: https://www.ccfaupdate.com/

2025 Survey: