By Bryan Scott
At their February 28th meeting, the Oakley City Council discussed the community’s inadequate funding of fire and emergency medical services and decided to advance a reallocation program that has a goal of transferring $7.8 million of area property tax funds to the fire district.
“I believe we need to do something now,” said Vice Mayor Randy Pope towards the end of the spirited discussion.
The council agreed to have City Manager Bryan Montgomery draft a letter endorsing the need for improved fire and emergency medical services and supporting reallocating area property tax funds as a solution.
The group also discussed setting aside a 1% share of the city’s growth in property tax funding, approximately $45,000, to be transferred to East Contra Costa Fire Protection District (ECCFPD). ECCFPD is the local fire department that is struggling to provide adequate services with a funding level set 35 years ago when services were provided by volunteers.
Taking action was argued against by City Manager Montgomery. He said that even though the reallocation program sounds simple, it is not workable because so many government entities need to participate, and that the area school district superintendents have gone on record opposing their participation in the program. He also said Oakley residents need to chime in on the issue, and that action needs to come from elsewhere, at the state or county level.
“You won’t be popular with our partners (if you do this); the schools are not going to like this,” he told the Council towards the end of the discussion, appealing to the human instinct to be loved.
Also discussed by the Council was a meeting Councilmember Kevin Romick attended that was also attended by Contra Costa County Supervisors Diane Burgis (Dist. 3) and Karen Mitchoff (Dist. 4). The meeting’s purpose was to discuss last-minute strategies to keep the fourth ECCFPD fire station open beyond this June, when its temporary funding runs out.
Current ECCFPD funding provides for three fire stations to cover a service area of 250 square miles where over 110,000 people live.
Councilmember Romick said that the agency most involved in providing fire and emergency medical services, ECCFPD, did not attend the meeting. Consequently, the same group will come together again on March 21st to review the fire district’s plans and budget.
Scott is Co-Chair of East County Voters for Equal Protection, a non-partisan grass roots citizens action committee formed to address the unequal funding of fire and emergency medical services existing in 249 square miles of Eastern Contra Costa County. About 110,000 residents, as well as those who work and play in Eastern Contra Costa, have services funded at a level one-fourth to one-third of those levels in other parts of Contra Costa County. For more information contact committee Co-Chairs Hal Bray at hal.bray@pacbell.net or Bryan Scott scott.bryan@comcast.net. Connect with them and learn more on their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/EastCountyVoters/
Perhaps you should do your homework instead of blindly posting things. From the City of Oakley who also corrected the Contra Costa Times.
https://www.facebook.com/CityofOakley/
Oakley City Council Has Not voted to support a
Reallocation of Property Taxes
Contrary to an inaccurate press release from the East County Voters group (ECV) and a misleading headline by the East Bay Times, the Oakley City Council has yet to take a position on a reallocation of property tax to help fund the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District (ECCFPD).
The City recognizes its role in staying engaged in conversations and evaluating proposals that could help improve the financial struggles of the ECCFPD; however, a property tax reallocation could have significant impacts on other public entities, especially to the local schools. For example, a reallocation proposal made by the ECV group would take over $5,000,000 from the local schools each year. The City Council would not vote on such a drastic measure without further conversations with the school districts and an open and fair discussion with the community about the impact of such a reallocation. Other public entities receiving property tax would have to also be involved.
Mayor Sue Higgins explains, “The City of Oakley is committed to being actively involved in discussions which explore improved funding and services for ECCFPD, however we have a responsibility to be prudent in our evaluation of all proposals. While we discussed the idea of reallocation, no action was taken. It is very hard to weigh such essential services like education provided by schools, to police services provided by cities, to fire services provided by the fire district against one another.”
At the work session held by the Oakley City Council on February 28th, the City Council agreed to send a letter to our state legislators, as a follow up to a letter sent late last year by ECCFPD, asking for the Legislature to consider proposals to assist ECCFPD. Assembly Member Jim Frazier has submitted a bill request that will be later defined. The City Council also asked City staff to extend an invitation to the Assembly Member and/or his staff to make a presentation to the Council, when the bill is ready for formal submission.
The City Council did not vote to support a property tax reallocation.
Our apologies for the mistake. The headline has been corrected.
Thank you for providing us with that information.
While we allow the public to write and submit articles, we will be more careful in the future with their descriptions in the headlines.
Allen Payton
Publisher