Moraga-Orinda Fire District Board Takes Action Toward Balancing Its Budget

The board of directors of the Moraga-Orinda Fire District took several steps Wednesday evening in an attempt to balance the district’s $20 million budget, which was facing a projected deficit of $950,000 for this fiscal year.

The board first unanimously approved a plan to reduce daily staffing at district fire stations from 19 to 17 employees. That reduction will take effect at the beginning of next week.

The cuts are expected to save $550,000 this fiscal year, reducing the projected deficit to $400,000.

In mid-October, the board gave Fire Chief Stephen Healy permission to reduce staffing. Healy reported to the board he had reached an agreement with union leaders on that plan.

The directors approved the new policy even though they admitted they might not be able to meet some of the goals this fiscal year.

The board also heard an analysis of the district’s latest financial reports.

On Wednesday, fire officials released a statement saying the district had incorrectly labeled $2 million meant to pay for pension obligation bond debt services as unrestricted funds.

Officials said the error was uncovered in October by the district’s recently hired administrative services director Gloriann Sasser. The funds are now listed as restricted and cannot be used for general operations or capital projects.

The statement also says the district had a negative general fund balance of $103,719 as of June 30. It said that deficit would need to be erased by future revenues.

On top of that, officials announced last week that a financial audit shows the district has depleted its general fund reserves and used $88,000 in capital projects money in June to sustain operations.

A representative of Cropper Accountancy Corporation told the board the district is “on an unsustainable financial path.” He also questioned whether the district should have spent $1.3 million in July to purchase land in Lafayette for a future joint station with the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District.

Board member Steve Anderson shot back at the auditing firm, criticizing their performance and saying they “had not done their job.”

Board member Alex Evans added the firm had completed five audits in the past five years for the district and had not pointed out any of these problems. He said the errors were uncovered by Sasser and not the auditors.

He said the firm had no right to question the board’s decisions, including the purchase of the Lafayette property.

“The more you talk about it, the angrier I get,” Evans said.

At the point, board member Fred Well said the discussion was not productive and made a motion to acknowledge receipt of the auditing report. That motion was unanimously approved.

Later in the meeting, the directors said they are looking into the possibility they could split the Lafayette property and sell off a piece of the land.