Five tax measures for Sonoma County fire services
Firefighters at three Sonoma County fire agencies continue to wait for updated election results, with the passage of tax measures to shore up services and staffing hanging in the balance.
Two of the measures, for Monte Rio and the Rancho Adobe district, which includes Cotati, Penngrove and unincorporated areas near Petaluma, are ahead by thin margins. A third, for the Valley of the Moon, trails slightly. Each requires a 66.6 percent supermajority to pass, with 71,000 mail ballots still uncounted across the county.
Election officials have until Dec. 6 to complete the final tally and have signaled they could take that long to issue official results.
Meanwhile, voters in Schellville and Glen Ellen overwhelmingly supported taxing themselves $200 annually to buoy firefighting budgets in their communities.
The five fire districts, like others in Sonoma County, struggle financially. The high cost of firefighting has strained budgets, with most of the county’s nearly 40 fire agencies unable to keep up with personnel, equipment and station costs.
The five departments with tax measures on the Nov. 6 ballot sought either their first supplemental funding from residential and commercial property owners in the form of a parcel tax, or in cases where those already existed, a hike in parcel taxes. While needs differed across the departments, the shared priority was a stated need to increase staffing.
For those measures that pass, the new money will be collected in 2019 property tax bills, causing some agencies to delay improvements until the cash is available or to dip further into reserves until the financial relief arrives.
Officials believed still-sharp memories of the catastrophic October 2017 fires would boost support for the tax hikes.
“Last year’s fire and the one that just happened, we were guessing that would make it a more favorable environment for the tax to pass,” said Dan Fein, Monte Rio’s fire board president.
“Not only last year’s fire, but what’s going on around us this year, too. The Mendocino Complex, smoke we’re getting now from the Camp fire, the Carr fire, Woolsey - it doesn’t turn off anymore,” said Jim Colengelo, interim director of Sonoma County’s Fire and Emergency Services Department.
All of the measures received at least 65 percent, a strong show of support, proponents said.
“I think we’ve seen and appreciated just how much 65 percent of the community supports us and that is tremendous,” said Sonoma Valley Fire Chief Steve Akre. “The two-thirds threshold is such a difficult one to get to.”
Monte Rio Fire ?Protection District
The all-volunteer Monte Rio fire district campaigned on the need for three paid firefighters, new equipment and eventually a new fire station. Its tax proposal, Measure U, is ahead with 66.7 percent of the vote, a razor-thin margin that could be decided by just a dozen or more of the 359 mail ballots left to count, according to a Press Democrat analysis of election data. The current split is 460 votes in favor to 230 opposed.
The measure would bring in about $500,000 a year, more than doubling the district’s $440,000 annual budget.
The district, which stretches from the Russian River to the Sonoma Coast, has few volunteers and is run by a volunteer fire chief, Steve Baxman, who responds virtually around-the-clock. The new money would assure one paid firefighter per shift.
“For a little district that is completely relying on volunteers (the new money) is critical,” said Fein, the board president. “The existence of the district is in question long term.”
Four years ago the fire district lost a tax measure by eight votes, so officials know the importance of every vote, said Baxman.
He has kept a sharp eye on the Nov. 6 results after learning of a mistake by county elections officials that resulted in 92 ballots mailed to Cazadero residents that incorrectly included the Monte Rio fire tax measure.
Incoming county elections chief Deva Proto acknowledged the clerical error. Cazadero residents were subsequently notified not to vote on the measure. Their ballots, all vote-by-mail, will be flagged and checked to make sure any votes on Measure U issue aren’t tallied, Proto said.
Baxman said he knew of at least one Cazadero resident who for awhile had a “No on U” sign in his yard because he thought he was being asked to pay $200 for a neighboring fire agency. He fears that confusion could have soured enough voters in the Monte Rio district to threaten Measure U.
“I’m not going to get excited until we hear the final result,” Baxman said. “If we lose, then we’ll raise hell.”
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