SANTA CRUZ — A new fire-protection tax is set to be levied on property owners in much of rural Santa Cruz County.
The special assessment tax is expected to raise $1.5 million annually starting in the next fiscal year. The funds, officials say, will allow the Santa Cruz County Fire Department to hire more firefighters, stave off budget deficits and upgrade the department’s aging equipment.
It applies to property in County Service Area 48, a 286-square-mile zone that encompasses most of the county’s rural land — including Bonny Doon, Corralitos, Davenport, but excluding the San Lorenzo Valley towns of Felton, Ben Lomond and Boulder Creek.
The area is home to more than 24,000 residents.
With a base rate of $148 per single-family home, the amount each property owner will pay annually under the new tax is adjusted based on factors including property value, fire risk and proximity to a fire station. It can be raised each year to account for inflation, and stacks on top of existing assessment fees.
Supported by a majority of property owners who returned mailed ballots, the new tax was unanimously adopted Tuesday by the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors.
“County Fire has needed fire equipment for the rural unincorporated area for many, many years, and now we’ll be able to bring that up to national standards,” said 5th District county Supervisor Bruce McPherson before the board voted to certify the election results and adopt the tax.
“We’ve seen the tremendous fires that have hit California — some in our county, to a small degree,” McPherson added, noting that much of the area is listed by the state as under extreme threat of fire. “This will prepare us much more for the protection of Santa Cruz County residents.”
In total, 9,026 ballots were mailed to property owners more than two months prior to a Jan. 14 deadline, with 2,764 returned and counted. Of the counted ballots, 1,525 voted in support of the tax with 1,239 opposed.
Each ballot was weighted by a formula based on the value of the property, fire-risk and proximity to a fire station, leading to a weighted approval of 56%. That’s about 1% higher than would have resulted from an unweighted tally of property owners — a difference that would not have swung the vote, which required 50% approval.
The somewhat complicated voting formula is a result of California’s Proposition 218, a 1996 amendment to the state constitution that created new voter-approval requirements for local taxes.
County Fire operates five volunteer stations that protect the rural land in cooperation with five additional Cal Fire stations.
During peak fire season, the Cal Fire stations are kept staffed by the state to fight wildfires. From November to May, County Fire contracts with the state to keep the Cal Fire stations staffed at a lower level.
County Fire has seen its off-season staffing levels fall by 25% since 2008 as its costs rise — effectively leaving each engine with three firefighters instead of four, including one volunteer.
Funds from the special assessment tax will allow the department to hire a third paid firefighter per engine in addition to providing for overdue equipment upgrades, according to County Fire Chief Ian Larkin.
Some residents, however, continue to cite concerns about how the tax was pitched to the public and the formula under which property owners will pay.
Bonny Doon resident Steve Homan summarized his concerns in a letter submitted to the board before Tuesday’s meeting, the latest in a series of critiques he has leveled against the tax.
In the letter, Homan made a number of claims — arguing that County Fire’s financial need was exaggerated and that Cal Fire officials had used “scare tactics” around wildfire danger to rally support for the tax, despite the fact that wildfire protection is funded by the state. He raised further questions about the formula for calculating parcel size.
“I just want you to know that there were a lot of irregularities in the election, and they should be addressed before you certify the election,” Homan told supervisors Tuesday prior to the vote.
