Adams County Fire Rescue and North Metro Fire back out of merger citing economics, leadership

House fire in Adams County, Colorado. Photo provided by: North Metro Fire Rescue District

DENVER (KDVR) — Months of discussions, analysis and conversations have ended with the Adams County Fire Protection District and the North Metro Fire Rescue District agreeing not to move forward. before with a merger.

The two agencies held a joint board meeting to discuss the merger in January, based on the premise that first responder districts could pool resources cost-effectively to improve services for both communities. The process was only beginning in January, but both agencies said they were making the potential merger public in order to maintain trust and transparency with the community.

Almost in June, both agencies released a statement saying the process was complete. The leaders, board chairs Ken Lombardi of Adams County Fire Rescue and Richard Miller of North Metro Fire, said they would forgo the merger.

“Our boards and district staff still believe in the potential for a merger that could benefit both fire districts,” the two districts said in a joint statement. “However, recent laws and impending ballot measures that reduce property tax revenues, along with other economic uncertainties, have caused some concern about how these changes have and will affect our organizations. »

The board presidents expressed concern that a merger would significantly reduce each fire district's tax revenue, pointing to recent legislative impacts in addition to the fact that if the two merged, the North Metro Fire District would have to reduce its factory levy to match another fire district's factory levy.

“Additionally, the merger comes as our fire districts are going through a transition of several leadership positions. Due to these key factors, we believe that now is not the best time to move forward with this process,” Lombardi and Miller wrote.

The two agencies said the two agencies would continue to advance their “strong history of collaboration” and said the process had helped the two agencies gain more mutual respect. Both men said that in the future, the agencies will continue to operate and train side by side.

“We are excited to continue our work as partners in the North Zone, seeking new opportunities to foster synergies between the two organizations while improving emergency services and task force response in our region, sharing resources and serving both fire districts through a combined fleet division. ” they wrote.

They said the merger could be revisited once new leadership is established and the economic future is stabilized.