Excelsior Springs, Mo. (April 6, 2025) — Designed to help individuals understand the local systems of government, the Thrive Excelsior Leadership Academy’s Spring 2025 Cohort recently gathered to learn about the role first responders have within a community. They also dove into the budgeting process used to determine the cost of public utilities.
Led by both Excelsior Springs Fire Department (ESFD) Chief Joe Maddick and City Manager Molly McGovern, the cohort was able to peer into the inner workings of the community from a new perspective.
Maddick spoke to the cohort, explaining that the ESFD, when fully staffed, consists of 22 personnel covering a span of three shifts, with six employees per shift working in a 24-hour rotation. “We work a 24/48 schedule,” he said, “so staff work for 24 hours and they are off for 48 hours throughout the entire year.” After working nine shifts, he noted each member of the staff receives a ‘Kelly Day,’ referred to as an extra day off, “saving the city overtime pay,” he said.
According to Maddick, the city’s public safety sales tax supplements part of the personnel salary at the ESFD, contributing approximately $374,000 toward salaries.
The public safety sales tax is a half-cent sales tax split between the Excelsior Springs Police Department and the ESFD, totaling $0.50. Maddick noted that the fire department portion of the sales tax generates $750,000 annually and is used to purchase equipment including fire trucks and ambulances, as well as to supplement salaries, radio fees, software fees for reporting purposes, and to offset additional equipment costs, “which have become increasingly expensive due to COVID-19,” Maddick said.
He explained equipment costs can total anywhere between $310,000 for an ambulance and $1.1 million for a new rescue pumper truck. Although the ESFD is grateful for the sales tax, Maddick explained to the cohort, “It doesn’t fully keep up with the rising cost of equipment.”
In addition, Maddick explained other factors related to operating costs, including ratings — specifically, the Insurance Services Office (ISO) rating that scores each fire department to determine property insurance costs.
The ISO analysis assigns a Public Protection Classification (PPC) on a scale from one to ten, with one being the best rating. Maddick noted the analysis is determined across four key areas using a fire suppression rating schedule (FSRS), including emergency communication systems, staffing and capabilities, water supply, and community risk reduction.
In turn, Maddick explained that if the ISO score is low, it reduces the insurance premium for the department, and currently, the score for the ESFD is two. “Before the water system renovation 12 years ago, the ISO rating was a 4 or 5,” he said, “so the Public Works water system renovation significantly improved the rating.”
He noted that the lower ISO score also impacts insurance rates and can benefit large businesses and industries through potentially lower insurance rates on commercial property, as insurance companies view areas with strong fire protection as a lower risk for incidents.
Molly McGovern directed the cohort’s attention to other areas of the city, including the budgeting process used to determine the cost of public utilities — specifically water costs — with a focus on consumption, billing, and revenue, and maintaining financial stability while planning for future infrastructure needs.
McGovern explained the average water consumer within Excelsior Springs uses approximately 3,000 gallons of water per month, across both small and high-volume users. Within city limits, she said, there are approximately 4,182 billed accounts, while outside of city limits, the community provides resources for an additional 177 consumers. This total makes up the city’s retail water sales, which are billed per 1,000 gallons and tracked monthly and annually.
Each consumer utilizing water within the community is charged a base and volume rate. McGovern explained that the base rate is a cost every consumer pays to cover half of debt payments, equally shared in the investment of infrastructure needs within the community. The volume rate, on the other hand, covers personnel, daily maintenance, and electricity costs associated with providing clean water, while also funding future maintenance.
“For a system to be sustainable, user fees need to generate funds to fill three buckets of system expenses — daily operations, rehabilitation of existing infrastructure, capital investments, and expansion,” McGovern said. “A practice of deferring maintenance only keeps rates low in the short term, and because you cannot avoid required maintenance, you eventually pay more to make improvements.”
Currently, the base rate for consumers, according to McGovern, is $16.97 per consumer as a fixed monthly charge, with a volume rate of $7.84 per 1,000 gallons used for water alone.
McGovern also explained the city calculates budgets for those within the community who require utility assistance, with an additional 1% of all water revenues set aside for those consumers.
“We set aside a portion of 1% of all the revenues that we receive for customers that are unable to pay their water bill or need assistance, and we have an agreement with the Good Samaritan Center to provide that financial assistance to customers that they see,” McGovern said. “We don’t think it’s appropriate for us to be talking to individuals about their finances, and that just seems to be a really bad look for us to discuss what they should or shouldn’t be able to do.”
However, even with the additional 1% factored into the city budget, both the base rate and volume rate consumers pay totaled $4,623,645.59. After subtracting the revenue total from expenses to cover the cost of infrastructure debt, personnel paychecks, daily maintenance, and electricity, the city was left with a total revenue of $3,544.91.
McGovern said, “Once the debt falls off, we will then look at reducing the rate, or we’ll have some safe years where there’s not big increases — or any increases.”
She noted the current debt payment for the city is $1.6 million annually, and once the debt falls off, the city plans to do the following:
- Improve the billing system
- Replace aging infrastructure
- Potentially reduce rates
- Create a “safe” financial period without rate increases
As a result, the cohort was able to witness the city’s approach to both the role ESFD plays within the community and internal costs and revenues pertaining to utility services.
For those interested in learning more about local government, visit https://cityofesmo.com and look out for the next installment of the Thrive Citizens Leadership Academy in the fall of 2025.
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