Phoenix, Arizona - Governor Doug Ducey announced that, after an innovative revamp of the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management’s billing process, local fire departments and fire districts are now receiving reimbursements in record times.

Following Governor Ducey’s challenge to all state agencies to be more efficient and operate at the speed of business, the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management revamped the billing process through which the agency reimburses fire departments and fire districts—called “cooperators”—for any wildfire suppression efforts needed during the year.

In the past, reimbursing these cooperators was a lengthy and burdensome process. Cooperators had to wait an average of 105 days for reimbursement, which caused a huge, unnecessary financial burden on smaller fire departments and districts trying to do their jobs.

The reimbursement time has now been reduced from 105 days to only 23 days.

“These improvements are another example of how Arizona is encouraging government to work at the speed of business,” said Governor Ducey. “Our firefighters act swiftly and put their lives on the line to protect our communities. Local fire departments and fire districts shouldn’t have to struggle under bureaucratic red tape to get reimbursed for their brave service. Streamlining state agencies has a real effect on real people and should be pursued at every chance, and I applaud the department for these new achievements.”

“After reviewing our processes at Governor Ducey’s request, we discovered a number of improvements that we could make to improve our billing time,” said Arizona State Forester Jeff Whitney. “By making small adjustments to the way we did business, our processing time has decreased from an average of 105 days down to 23 days, a significant improvement that will continue to benefit our cooperators.”

The Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management currently has agreements with more than 250 fire departments and fire districts, giving the state access to thousands of firefighters and to their equipment.