Fire and Prop 13
Every time a public entity has a revenue shortfall, they blame Proposition 13. The Foresthill Fire Protection District (FFPD) is no different, latching onto that excuse for their falling revenue in their recent 1-page mailer.
But Prop 13 has nothing to do with the level of tax allocation. It is wholly up to the County to decide what proportion of the property tax is given to various entities.
The genesis of the FFPD problems goes back to the State's destruction of the California logging industry. An all-volunteer fire department (and Safety Club ambulance service) was viable only because the lumber mills would allow workers to leave their job at a moments notice and serve in those roles. Once the mills closed, most people worked off the Foresthill Divide and were only available in the evenings and nights. Those who did the volunteer work aged out and soon there were few that could replace them.
The County allocation of property tax funds could only grow if the town grew: more houses and businesses would mean more revenue. But, without going into detail, the town seemed to decide to restrict robust growth, so those funds did not grow at a rate to keep up with costs. In fact, as I pointed out in the main article (FireTaxB), the population of Foresthill proper actually decreased from 2000 to 2010.
Still, the immediate cause of the present FFPD crises is the unwise State mandate to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour. As the FFPD has pointed out, this requires another $212,000 if they are to fully staff 2 stations.
(To understand why the minimum wage is a bad idea, this article is the most cogent I've seen. It explains the damage it does very well: https://www.theepochtimes.com/the-minimum-wage-doesnt-do-what-you-think-it-does_2611054.html )
Proposition 13 does require the 66% yes vote to pass the tax. And I'm sure the FFPD Board would prefer a straight 50%+1 vote; heck, I'm sure they'd really prefer to be able to pass it with just a vote among themselves. And that is why Prop 13 and the 66% rule is so important. It forces those who want to raise taxes to make an argument that goes beyond just emotion, to have to truly convince voters that the revenue, at that level of increase, is really needed.
That they blame Prop 13, and not the State minimum wage, as the driving force behind the lack of revenue, makes me distrust information from the FFPD Board even more. We can fully fund 1 station with a more modest tax increase. Let's require the Board to go that route. Vote NO on Measure B.
Every time a public entity has a revenue shortfall, they blame Proposition 13. The Foresthill Fire Protection District (FFPD) is no different, latching onto that excuse for their falling revenue in their recent 1-page mailer.
But Prop 13 has nothing to do with the level of tax allocation. It is wholly up to the County to decide what proportion of the property tax is given to various entities.
The genesis of the FFPD problems goes back to the State's destruction of the California logging industry. An all-volunteer fire department (and Safety Club ambulance service) was viable only because the lumber mills would allow workers to leave their job at a moments notice and serve in those roles. Once the mills closed, most people worked off the Foresthill Divide and were only available in the evenings and nights. Those who did the volunteer work aged out and soon there were few that could replace them.
The County allocation of property tax funds could only grow if the town grew: more houses and businesses would mean more revenue. But, without going into detail, the town seemed to decide to restrict robust growth, so those funds did not grow at a rate to keep up with costs. In fact, as I pointed out in the main article (FireTaxB), the population of Foresthill proper actually decreased from 2000 to 2010.
Still, the immediate cause of the present FFPD crises is the unwise State mandate to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour. As the FFPD has pointed out, this requires another $212,000 if they are to fully staff 2 stations.
(To understand why the minimum wage is a bad idea, this article is the most cogent I've seen. It explains the damage it does very well: https://www.theepochtimes.com/the-minimum-wage-doesnt-do-what-you-think-it-does_2611054.html )
Proposition 13 does require the 66% yes vote to pass the tax. And I'm sure the FFPD Board would prefer a straight 50%+1 vote; heck, I'm sure they'd really prefer to be able to pass it with just a vote among themselves. And that is why Prop 13 and the 66% rule is so important. It forces those who want to raise taxes to make an argument that goes beyond just emotion, to have to truly convince voters that the revenue, at that level of increase, is really needed.
That they blame Prop 13, and not the State minimum wage, as the driving force behind the lack of revenue, makes me distrust information from the FFPD Board even more. We can fully fund 1 station with a more modest tax increase. Let's require the Board to go that route. Vote NO on Measure B.