Intergovernmental Agreements For Fire Support

Fire support intergovernmental agreements involve public safety and taxpayer funds. Without cost-benefit assessments, formal processes, and better documentation, Denver Fire cannot ensure financial sustainability, transparent and consistent contract negotiations, or fully identify and collect city revenue.

FINDING – Some administrative processes for the city’s intergovernmental agreements for fire support need improvement

• Denver Fire’s process to renew intergovernmental agreements was informal and undocumented. This approach affects the department’s ability to be consistent and transparent among municipalities when renewing agreements.

• The department did not assess the costs and benefits of providing fire-support services to Sheridan when renewing the agreement in 2025. Even though Denver Fire reviewed and documented the estimated costs to provide services to Sheridan when renewing the agreement previously, the department did not follow the same process in 2025, despite the rising costs of some supplies.

•  Denver Fire did not collect revenue from interest on late payments or reimbursement for building-related repair expenses. The intergovernmental agreements specify the conditions for charging interest and who handles building repairs or maintenance, but the department lacks the processes necessary to consistently recover this revenue.

1.1 Develop and document formal renewal process – Denver Fire Department leaders should develop and document a formal process for renewing the intergovernmental agreements. The process should include, at a minimum, a description of:

• Required participants.
• Participant roles and responsibilities.
• Key provisions to be revisited for continued accuracy and relevance.
• A timeline of milestones.
• Documentation to be created.
• Document retention processes.

Denver Fire Department – Agree, Implementation Date – July 1, 2026

1.2 Establish a process for tracking costs – Denver Fire Department leaders should work with the department’s finance team to develop, document, and implement a process for tracking the actual costs associated with Denver Fire providing fire support to the four municipalities. This process should also include details on the methodologies used and limitations affecting the cost calculations.

Denver Fire Department – Agree, Implementation Date – July 1, 2026

1.3 Develop policies and procedures for cost-benefit assessments – Denver Fire Department leaders should work with the department’s finance team to develop and document the required process for conducting cost-benefit analyses for intergovernmental agreements for when first entered or when up for renewal. These developed processes should include periodically re-assessing the costs and benefits during the term of long-term agreements. The process should describe:

• Who is responsible for completing the assessments.
• How often they should be conducted.

Denver Fire Department – Agree, Implementation Date – July 1, 2026

1.4 Include important elements in future cost-benefit assessments – The Denver Fire Department’s finance team should ensure future cost-benefit assessments for intergovernmental agreements for fire support include a description of the source data and its reliability, the methodology used to develop the costs, and the ground rules or assumptions used. The assessment should also include the qualitative and quantitative benefits of these agreements.

Denver Fire Department – Agree, Implementation Date – July 1, 2026

1.5 Develop, document, and implement a joint advisory board governance structure – Denver Fire Department leaders should work with the joint advisory board members from each municipality to develop, document, and implement a governance structure. At a minimum, this should include:

• The purpose of the joint advisory board.
• Members of the boards, roles and responsibilities of each member, and a process to change board members.
• A process for preparing and sharing meeting agendas before each board meeting.
• A process for developing and sharing meeting minutes of each board meeting.
• A process for receiving and resolving issues or disputes.

Denver Fire Department – Agree, Implementation Date – July 1, 2026

1.6 Determine whether joint advisory board provisions need to be updated – After establishing the governance structure and purpose of the joint advisory board, the Denver Fire Department’s leaders should work with the joint advisory board members to decide whether the joint advisory board provisions in each intergovernmental agreement should be revised to better reflect the purpose of the boards. These decisions should be documented.

Denver Fire Department – Agree, Implementation Date – July 1, 2026

1.7 Develop a plan to revise agreements, as necessary – Denver Fire Department leaders should develop and document a plan to revise the intergovernmental agreements, as necessary, based on the decisions made with Recommendation 1.6.

Denver Fire Department – Agree, Implementation Date – July 1, 2026

1.8 Establish and implement a process to track payments – The Denver Fire Department’s finance team should establish and implement a process to track the date each payment from Englewood, Glendale, Sheridan, and the Skyline Fire Protection District is received to enable it to identify late payments and track any patterns of late payments.

Denver Fire Department – Agree, Implementation Date – June 1, 2026

1.9 Determine conditions for a late payment – Denver Fire Department leaders should decide whether the intergovernmental agreements for fire support should be amended to adjust the conditions for what constitutes a late payment and document their decision. Next, Denver Fire leaders should either revise the agreements accordingly or follow the existing requirements for imposing interest on late payments.

Denver Fire Department – Agree, Implementation Date – June 1, 2026

1.10 Develop and document a process for identifying expenses – Denver Fire Department leaders should work with the department’s Technical Services Division, finance team, and other relevant personnel, to develop and document a process for identifying expenses at municipality fire stations that should be reimbursed and for ensuring Denver Fire is reimbursed, as required by the intergovernmental agreements.

Denver Fire Department – Agree, Implementation Date – July 1, 2026

1.11 Develop policies and procedures for monthly reconciliation – Denver Fire Department leaders should work with the Denver Fire finance team to develop policies and procedures for the monthly reconciliation of its internal payment records and Workday associated with revenue from Englewood, Glendale, Sheridan, and the Skyline Fire Protection District. If separation of duties is impractical due to staffing limitations, managers should design alternative methods to mitigate the risk.

Denver Fire Department – Agree, Implementation Date – July 1, 2026

Auditor’s addendum to agency response for Recommendation 1.9

We agree the existing agreements give Denver Fire the ability to charge interest on late payments, but the department did not charge interest on the late payments that occurred during the period we reviewed. Our recommendation is intended to provide Denver Fire leaders with the flexibility to change the conditions under which interest will be charged, if they choose to do so. If the conditions for late payments remain unchanged, then Denver Fire should follow the existing requirement for imposing interest on late payments.