Page 17 - Sonoma County Gazette 11-19

FIRE cont’d from page 16
Additionally, the possible countywide sales tax includes voters in Santa Rosa, who are ~40% of the voting population in the county. Santa Rosa residents already pay a 1⁄4 cent sales tax for police and fire (Measure O). If the countywide sales tax makes it to the ballot, it may or may not pass, as it will need to achieve 2/3 voter support at the crowded ballot box with SMART Train and other possible funding measures competing for voter attention and approval... Therefore, Gold Ridge, Graton and Occidental Fire Departments decided to take care of their own communities, and move forward with local funding proposals for each district to guarantee their local funding.
Consolidations, Annexations, and Mergers
There has been significant discussion happening for the
past three years on district consolidations. Operationally, the three fire departments with measures on the ballot already act as one fire agency
by providing mutual aid and sharing of equipment and leadership across district boundaries. In a scary “fire week” this October, multiple major structure fires and vegetation fires happened in each of the districts, some on red flag days, and the neighboring districts came to the aid of the home district.
How will the passage of a parcel tax now impact a future consolidation?
Simply stated, bypassing a measure in a local fire district, it puts residents and local firefighters in the best possible position to determine their own future. If future consolidation is a good option, local districts can retain some local control where two or more healthy districts are looking at a merger to create better service delivery for residents and the public they serve.
In the event that a district does not pass a local funding measure, it is very possible that the same district may be compelled into a situation where they go along with annexation by a neighboring district that does have a healthy parcel tax. Through the annexation process at the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO), a newly annexed district can have the annexing district’s parcel tax structure “pasted” across the new parcels, without those voters going to the polls to approve the tax. This is a scenario that the Board of Directors for Graton Fire, Occidental Fire and Gold Ridge Fire are seeking to avoid.
For example, If Gold Ridge’s Measure E fails, and the County of Sonoma sales tax measure passes, Gold Ridge may be forced to consolidate with another district like Bodega Bay ($530/parcel) Or Rancho Adobe ($300/ parcel) in order to close service gaps and to become eligible for the possible future county sales tax funding. The parcel tax rates from Bodega Bay or Rancho Adobe would be applied to parcels in the Gold Ridge district via consolidation proceedings. These rates are higher than what Gold Ridge Fire is currently proposing, and could occur without a vote of the people under this scenario.
Taxpayer Protections
Several taxpayer protections are built into Measures C, E, and F. All funds collected are restricted to fire and emergency services use for
the district of origin. The publicly elected Board of Directors of the fire districts are accountable to their local voters, and have been managing the fund accounts for these departments for the past 50-100 years, on mostly shoestring budgets fueled by pancake breakfasts, pasta feeds, and the
small amount that comes back from the local property taxes. There is also a publicly noticed rate-setting hearing that will occur annually for each of the fire districts, should their taxes earn voter support.
Ultimately, it comes back to local control of tax dollars and oversight for voters, as well as answering the question of what level of service is acceptable to those who live here. The model of an all-volunteer fire department is no longer delivering what most would call acceptable; the question is whether 2/3s of voters will agree to the current proposals.
If voters SUPPORT Measures C, E, and F, Western Sonoma County will be in a much better and more prepared position going forward in the coming decades as we deal with climate change, dangerous wildfires, the decline of volunteerism, and an increasingly aging population.
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