Contra Costa Herald

News Of By and For The People of Contra Costa County, California

Guest Commentary: Even in a deadly public safety crisis change takes time, and people die

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By Bryan Scott

People are dying in East County, homes are burning down, and residents are paying dramatically escalating insurance premiums, often increasing by over 200%.

The fire district serving the needs of over 110,000 people in two cities, half a dozen unincorporated communities, and spread over 249-square miles of Contra Costa County is critically underfunded.

The state of California set-up the funding for these services in the 1980’s, when all that was needed were several groups of volunteer firefighters to serve 8,000 people in a couple of East Contra Costa County farming communities.  The need for fire and emergency medical services in East County has changed dramatically in the last 40 years, and the population has grown to over 110,000 residents.

All fire districts in California are funded with property tax revenues.  A permanent solution to this funding problem requires reallocating some of these property tax funds from the current recipients to the fire district.

Contra Costa County Fire Protection District receives ~14% of the property tax revenue.  The fire district covering the San Ramon Valley gets ~15%, and the fire district serving the Moraga-Orinda area is funded at~ 21%.

The East Contra Costa Fire Protection District (ECCFPD) gets less than 8%.

A survey conducted last Fall found that on a per-person basis ECCFPD gets about $106 each year, compared to $349 per-person for San Ramon Valley and $366 for Moraga-Orinda fire districts.  This unequal funding is to provide essentially the same services to county residents who pay the same property tax rate.

Gus Vina is the City Manager of Brentwood, and Bryan Montgomery is the City Manager of Oakley.  Combined, these two these public administrators are responsible for managing the safety of 100,000 residents.  They have a moral, if not legal, duty to ensure the safety of their employers, the taxpaying residents of their respective cities.

Both City Managers should be applauded for their efforts in dealing with this crisis.

In 2015 a government-employee task force was formed, under the leadership of Vina, and temporary funding was obtained from the two cities and the County.  This funding kept a fourth fire station open for 18 months.

In 2016 both City Managers helped get a Utility User Tax (UUT) on the ballot in their respective cities, even though public opinion polling said the measures would gather only 40% support, at best, with the voters.  While a general tax measure of this type requires only a simple majority to pass, Brentwood’s vote came in at 39% in favor.  Support for the UUT in Oakley was less.

Both Brentwood and Oakley are now talking about another temporary funding contribution, along with the County.

These temporary band-aide funding measures, do not address the fundamental problem, the structural property tax funding deficiency.

It is too bad neither one of these municipal managers has gotten behind the permanent solution to the funding crisis, reallocating property tax funds.  But perhaps it is understandable.

The challenge here is that the money for a permanent fix comes from the current recipients of property tax funding.  These recipients include the cities both Vina and Montgomery are paid to run, Brentwood and Oakley.

And while they have endorsed short-term financial contributions, they have not worked towards the obvious and final fix to the funding crisis, the reallocation of property tax funds.

So, East County residents will continue to die, homes will continue to burn down, and insurance premiums will continue to go up.

Scott is a Brentwood resident and Co-Chair of East County Voters for Equal Protection, a non-partisan citizens action committee whose aim is to improve funding for the ECCFPD.  He can be reached at scott.bryan@comcast.net, or 925-418-4428.  The group’s Facebook page is  https://www.facebook.com/EastCountyVoters/.  

Fire station in Knightsen to close June 30th

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East Contra Costa Fire Protection District Interim Fire Chief Brian Helmick sent the following message about the closure:

At the May 1, 2017, East Contra Costa Fire Protection District’s Board of Directors Meeting (ECCFPD), the ECCFPD Board reaffirmed the closure of Station 94 in Knightsen on June 30, 2017. Since May of 2015, the Knightsen station has been operating on a temporary basis with joint funding provided through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Fire District, the County, and the cities of Brentwood and Oakley.

The current MOU provided temporary funding from May 1, 2015 through June 30, 2017. Both the cities of Brentwood and Oakley attempted to obtain permanent funding for additional fire stations through tax measures on the Novembers 2016 ballot. These measures failed.

A recent effort by the City of Brentwood, in conjunction with the County, the City of Oakley and the Fire District was unsuccessful in obtaining sufficient additional funding to retain staff and continue operation of the District’s 4th station. The Fire District sincerely extends its thanks on behalf of itself and the public to the agencies and their representatives who participated in this effort.

The closure of the station is driven primarily by the loss of staff in anticipation of the end of temporary funding. Currently the District has available only 32 of the 36 fire suppression personnel required to operate four stations. The available staff is expected to drop to 29 or 30 over the next few months. By June 30, 2017, the required staffing for four stations will be unsustainable and unsafe for firefighter personnel and ultimately the public.

The District looks forward to working with all stakeholders once the District has transitioned to a three-station operation and has reassessed its current situation. Over the next 3-4 months District staff and the Board of Directors will begin an assessment of the District’s current funding and service levels with a focus on the District’s critical retention challenges.

Since 2012, the District has lost 31 firefighters and only 5 have been from retirement. The primary loss of firefighters is due to: the lack of secured long term funding; the lack of job security for firefighters, and District pay and benefits substantially lower than other Fire Departments throughout the Area.

On July 1, 2017, the District will transition to operating with 3 stations and will assign all remaining additional firefighters, as available, to the 3 remaining District stations located in Brentwood, Oakley and Discovery Bay. The District plans to retain the CALFIRE Amador contract to Staff the Sunshine Station outside of fire season. There are no layoffs planned and the District hopes to retain all remaining staff on a permanent basis.

Following the Board’s approval of the Fiscal Year 2017-2018 budget in September, the District plans to lead a new collaborative effort with the community, the County, the Cities of Brentwood and Oakley, and Local 1230. The goal will be to fully explain the District’s situation and to receive input on the development of a District strategic plan to achieve the level of service and funding identified in the June 2016 CityGate “Deployment Performance and Headquarters Staffing Adequacy Study”.

On behalf of the ECCFPD, we thank the community, the cities of Brentwood and Oakley, and County officials for continuing to support the Fire District and its Members as we transition through these challenging times.

See video footage of the fire station from KRON4 News, here.

Guest Commentary: East Contra Costa Fire district funding, what is cost of not participating?

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By Bryan Scott

Here’s something that should scare East County government agency managers:  Losing 9.2% of their property tax funding.

That is one of many potential outcomes possible if a rational outsider, an uninvolved third party, were asked to adjust the East County property tax funding levels to meet the needs of the current community.

The East Contra Costa Fire Protection District (ECCFPD) provides fire and emergency medical services to 110,000 residents of 250 square miles of eastern Contra Costa County.  Fire districts throughout California are primarily funded by property taxes, disbursed according to an allocation rate set 35 years, ago.

When the allocation rate was set, there were maybe 8,000 people living in eastern Contra Costa County, and the area was served by four volunteer fire departments.  Back then only about 7.5% of the property tax money collected was spent on fire services.

Today the cities of Brentwood and Oakley alone have about 100,000 residents, with more arriving every month.  The total number of residents within the ECCFPD jurisdiction has been estimated at between 110,000 and 120,000.

And the fire district is losing ground.  As more people move into the area and the cost of providing services increases, the district is able to provide less and less of its essential services.  Area friends and neighbors are dying, and houses are burning down.   A multi-fatality incident is just around the corner as the fire district lacks the resources to respond to calls for help.

Last Summer ECCFPD hired Citygate Associates, a well-credentialed industry consulting firm, to determine how many fire stations the area would ultimately need.  The answer was nine fire stations.  There are now three permanent fire stations.  Only nine firefighters are on duty at any point in time, and 15 are required to fight a structure fire.

The nine-station model is a rational definition of the community’s needs, arrived at after in-depth analysis of travel times, population locations and growth trends, and firefighting resource requirements.  It is also future-oriented, taking into account the urban and rural development planning now occurring at the two cities and the county.

To pay for adequate fire services using property taxes would require shifting 9.2% of today’s property tax money, collected within its jurisdiction, to the fire district.  This is what’s necessary to correct the structural funding deficiency that has been getting worse for the last 15 years.

A group of concerned citizens has put forth a proposal to gradually shift 5.2% of the area’s future property tax money to the fire district, over a period of four years so that no current funding is affected.  Government agency managers have opposed this program, denying any willingness to voluntarily participate in solving this community problem.

This grass roots proposal would bring the ECCFPD funding rate up to about the average of fire district funding rates in Contra Costa County.  It could provide for potentially six fire stations.

Refusing to participate in solving this community problem is dangerous for local government entities.  There is no guarantee that an outside decision maker, perhaps in Sacramento, would make the same decision that locals would make.

By not participating in solving the fire district’s funding problem local government entities run the risk that a solution imposed from afar would cost them much more of their future funding.

Scott is a Brentwood resident and Co-Chair of East County Voters for Equal Protection, a non-partisan citizens action committee whose aim is to improve funding for the ECCFPD.  He can be reached at 925-418-4428. or scott.bryan@comcast.net.  The group’s Facebook page is  https://www.facebook.com/EastCountyVoters/.  

Oakley Council discusses reallocating property tax funds for East County fire district

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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/

Guest Commentary: Elected leaders must take action, reallocate funds for East County fire district

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By Bryan Scott

The East County Voters for Equal Protection (ECV), a non-partisan citizens action committee, is organizing a workshop later this month to discuss a proposal to correct the structural funding deficiency that is afflicting the local fire services agency, the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District (ECCFPD).

Twenty-two local government entities have been invited, including the county, the cities of Brentwood and Oakley, special districts and schools.

The proposal ECV is advocating will improve ECCFPD funding by about $7.8 million, and potentially provide for three additional fire stations, bringing the district’s total to six.  There are now just three permanent stations serving 110,000 people spread over 249 square miles.

The proposal relies on the traditional growth in property tax revenues to avoid any cuts in current funding.  If the proposal is adopted the increased property tax revenues that  22 government entities can expect would grow a little slower over a three or four year program implementation period.

This proposal is a significant one.  It is the type of policy decision that elected officials, the chosen representatives of the public, need to make because it is the general public who will benefit from this program.

Government administrators are naturally opposed to this proposal.  City Managers, schools administrators, the county administrator, have all gone on record opposing the solution because their specific government entity would lose future funds.

These government workers are not looking at the big picture.   All government funds come, in one manner or another, from the public taxpayers.  The money ought to be used to meet the needs of today’s taxpayer population.

That’s why the elected representatives of the people need to make this decision, not those who are paid to operate pieces of the people’s business.

The Ghost Ship Fire occurred in Oakland several months ago.  It was a tragedy that took the lives of 36 people at a warehouse in the city’s District 5.  Noel Gallo is the City Councilmember who represents District 5, and he stepped forward visibly during the crisis.  He is a former school board member who understands the importance of fire and emergency medical response services to a community.  Gallo will speak at the fire district funding workshop.

The structural funding problem that has increased response times and reduced the number of firefighters is not a new phenomenon. It has grown as East County’s population has grown, dramatically since the late 1990’s.  Attempts to solve the problem with new tax measures have failed three times.

This proposal, if adopted, will address this structural funding problem.  It will provide money to East County fire and emergency medical services so that ECCFPD receives an allocation rate closer to the rate that other parts of the county receive for their fire and emergency medical services.  The funding allocation rate will then be at about the average for the county’s fire districts.

Shifting public money to a higher-priority service, in many cases a life-sustaining service, is the right thing to do.  Three lives have been lost due to inadequate response capability, a fire department official has said.

The proposal being brought forth is not new.  It has been talked about for over 15 months.

ECV was formed in January of 2016.  The leaders of this group have made 19 formal presentations to public agencies, civic and social groups.  They have attended over 46 meetings with elected, hired, or appointed officials, and conducted 10 public committee meetings.  Over 75 articles and opinion pieces have been published in local periodicals, online, and in social media by ECV.

It is time for our elected representatives the people to do what’s best for the people.

Bryan Scott is a Brentwood resident and Co-Chair of East County Voters for Equal Protection, a non-partisan citizens action committee whose aim is to improve funding for the ECCFPD.  He can be reached at scott.bryan@comcast.net, or 925-418-4428.  The group’s Facebook page is  https://www.facebook.com/EastCountyVoters/.

 

East County fire district funding workshop attracts Ghost Ship fire Councilman, local agencies invited to attend

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East County Voters for Equal Protection (ECV) announced that the Honorable Noel Gallo, Oakland City Councilman, has agreed to be the Keynote Speaker at a Fire District Funding Workshop being held February 23, 2017, in Brentwood.

Councilman Gallo represents Oakland’s District 5, where the Oakland Ghost Ship fire occurred causing the death of 36 people.  He will describe the importance of adequate fire and emergency medical services to a community and the implications of a catastrophic fire on local public safety policy and elected leaders.

East Contra Costa Fire Protection District (ECCFPD) is currently underfunded, receiving the lowest property tax allocation rate in the county.  A recent study indicates that the district receives just $106 per resident, while fire districts in other parts of the county receive $366 or $349 per resident to provide the same services.

The funding workshop will cover the historical causes of the underfunding situation, how lack of funds has impacted ECCFPD response capability, and the procedural steps needed to correct the situation.  While the public is not invited, members of the press will be in attendance, and State Senator Steve Glazer and Assemblyman Jim Frazier have also been invited.

Roughly two dozen government entities are on the guest list, including the cities of Brentwood and Oakley, the county, nine special districts and eight school-related entities.

Councilman Gallo has represented District 5 on the Oakland City Councilsince 2013.  He is chair of the Council’s public safety committee, where he advocated for the creation of a Public Safety Oversight Commission.  Gallo previously served on the staff of Oakland city manager Robert Bobb, and in 1992 he was the first Hispanic elected to the Oakland School Board, also serving as its President.

In addition to Gallo’s presentation, members of the East Contra Costa Fire Protection Board of Directors will present current and proposed conditions.

East Contra Costa Fire Protection District (ECCFPD) is currently underfunded, receiving the lowest property tax allocation rate of all fire districts in the county.  A recent study indicates that the district receives just $106 per resident, while fire districts in other parts of the county receive $366 or $349 per resident to provide the same services.

There are 110,000 residents in the 249 square-mile district, and the district has funding for just three fire stations and nine firefighters.  Response times far exceed national standards, as well as those standards mandated by Brentwood’s General Plan.

Entities invited to the Fire District Funding Workshop are:

General government role (5): Contra Costa County (David Twa), City of Brentwood (Gus Vina), City of Oakley (Bryan Montgomery), Town of Discovery Bay (Mike Davies), Bethel Island Municipal Improvement Dist.(Jeff Butzlaff);

Special/independent districts (9): Bay Area Rapid Transit (Grace Crunican), East Bay Regional Parks (Robert Doyle), BBK Union Cemetery Dist.(Barbara Fee), East Contra Costa Irrigation District (Patricia Corey), Contra Costa Mosquito Abatement District (Craig Downs), Contra Costa Flood Control (Mike Carlson), Contra Costa Water Dist. (Jerry Brown), Ironhouse Sanitary Dist. (Chad Davisson), RECL-800 Dist.(Robert Lyman);

School-related entities (8): Liberty Union High School Dist. (Eric Volta), Brentwood Elementary School Dist. (Dana Eaton), Contra Costa Community College Dist. (Dr. Fred Wood), County Board of Education (Karen Sakata), Oakley Elementary School Dist. (Greg Hetrick), Byron Elementary School Dist. (Debbie Gold), Antioch Unified School Dist. (Stephanie Anello), Knightsen Elementary School Dist, (Theresa Estrada).

California fire districts are funded principally by local property taxes, and the allocation percentage rate was set over 30 years ago.  ECCFPD receives about 7.5% of the property taxes collected in East County while other fire districts in the county receive 14%, 15%, 20%, and 30% of the taxes collected in their respective areas.

ABOUT ECV

East County Voters for Equal Protection is 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.    The group’s Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/EastCountyVoters/

Guest Commentary: The time for action in funding East County Fire service is now

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By Bryan Scott

In a 1987 speech President Ronald Reagan said, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” The speech was delivered at the Brandenburg Gate of the Berlin Wall, which has now vanished into history.

Today, the people of Brentwood say to Brentwood City Manager Gus Vina, “Mr. Vina, reallocate our taxes.”

Today a public safety crisis exists, a crisis that is well known to the elected leaders and municipal administrators paid to run the cities, special districts and schools within the 249-square mile territory of the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District (ECCFPD).

President Reagan made a bold statement; he issued a clear directive to the leader of the USSR.   Even though the Berlin Wall was not in the USSR, everyone knew where policy decisions on the Berlin Wall were made.

A community-proposed solution to our local crisis includes the redistribution of 5.2% of future property taxes. Today about $165 million in property taxes are collected within the territory of the fire district, and in the most recent year property values within Brentwood and Oakley grew by over 8%.

By phasing-in this tax redistribution program over four years each government entity would receive 1.3% less in new property tax funding each year, cumulatively, while at the end of the program the ECCFPD would be funded at about the county average fire district rate, 12%.  This would be a significant improvement over the current 7%.

City Manager Vina’s procedural steps are simple.  The Brentwood City Council needs to hold a public hearing, pass a resolution, and then forward a property tax transfer agreement to Bob Campbell, Contra Costa County Controller.  It is a simple and eloquent procedure, one used by the county to transfer property taxes just a month ago.

Oakley City Manager Bryan Montgomery, County Administrator David Twa and the other special districts of east county can follow the same procedures, outlined in the California Revenue and Taxation Code, Chapter 6, Section 99.02. School districts would transfer operating funds to the fire district to fulfill their obligation to assure the safety of their students, staff and faculty, using a memorandum-of-understanding method.

Using last year’s numbers as a guide this tax redistribution this would add $7.8 million to the fire district’s funding, allowing ECCFPD to permanently staff and operate a total of six fire stations, up from today’s three stations.

City Manager Vina, as well as his Oakley counterpart, City Manager Montgomery, and County Administrator Twa have all objected to the proposal.  They’ve said there are other uses for the money, or that tight budgets make the funds unavailable.

Using last year’s numbers Brentwood’s contribution to this program would be $150,771 per year, $603,059 in total.  Brentwood’s total budget is about $46 million.  Oakley’s contribution would be $36,218 per year, $144,871 in total.  The County’s contribution would be about $300,000 per year, $1.2 million in total, counting all county agencies. The county’s total budget is $1.470 billion.

The question has been raised, which services are to be cut? The answer is none.  Government expenditures, and the services these expenditures provide, will simply grow at a slower rate for four years.  They need not be cut.

The people of Brentwood and Oakley have said “no” to additional taxes for fire and emergency medical services that are provided to the rest of the county out of current property taxes.  It is time to fund an adequate level of essential services using the current taxpayer burden.

“Mr. Vina, reallocate our taxes.”say the people of Brentwood.

Bryan Scott is a Brentwood resident and Co-Chair of East County Voters for Equal Protection, a non-partisan citizens action committee whose aim is to improve funding for the ECCFPD.  He can be reached at scott.bryan@comcast.net, or 925-418-4428.  The group’s Facebook page is  https://www.facebook.com/EastCountyVoters/.  

Closed Pittsburg fire station to reopen after three years, will also serve Bay Point

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Residents of Pittsburg and Bay Point can breathe a little easier today, after Chief Jeff Carmen of the Contra Costa Fire Protection District announced that Station 87 would be reopened. Chief Carmen made his announcement at Tuesday morning’s meeting of the Board of Supervisors, acting as the County Fire Protection District Board of Directors.

“Thanks to the partnership with the City of Pittsburg and an improved economy, ConFire can fill a gap that has existed since the station was shuttered three years ago,” said Supervisor Federal Glover, in whose district the station is located.

Station 87, located on Leland Road and John Henry Johnson Parkway in Pittsburg, is expected to

be staffed and open for service by January 1, 2017. While the station was closed, it took two stations – one in Bay Point and one in Pittsburg – to answer the calls that normally would be serviced by Station 87.

“Without Station 87, fire services took longer to reach residents and businesses on the western half of the City,” said Pittsburg Mayor Ben Johnson. “We needed it to come back, and we’re pleased the County and the Fire District are able to restore this critical service to Pittsburg.”

Station 87 opened in 2000, serving the western end of Pittsburg and portions of Bay Point until the fire district’s finances forced its closure on July 8, 2013. The station closure, one of six that were shut down, was necessary because the district had failed to secure voter approval of a parcel tax in 2012 to address its budget woes.

In the years since the station closed, the ConFire has made several cost-saving changes, including partnering with a private contractor for ambulance service and seeking new revenue to

support its operations. The economic recovery has also helped.

For its part, Pittsburg’s City Council recently approved a new Fire Services Community Facilities District, which will collect a fee from every new home built in the city to support fire services. It is a model Contra Costa County is looking at duplicating, but for now, Pittsburg is the only city in the county to use this method to support fire services. For the past decade, Pittsburg has used a similar special district to support police services in newly developed areas of the City.

“With Prop. 13 limiting our property tax, which funds fire-fighting services, we need to find other funding sources,” said Glover. “Pittsburg’s special district fees is one way of making up the gap in what is collected and the market increases in wages and equipment.”

Guest Commentary: For East County Fire District property tax reallocation works

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By Bryan Scott

The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors voted to reallocate over $700,000 of property tax funds each year, in perpetuity, to the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District (ECCFPD) on Tuesday, October 18, 2016.  Still, the fire district continues to struggle with insufficient funding due to a property tax funding rate that was set three decades ago,when the district’s 249-square-mile territory was primarily farmland and small communities.

The Board of Supervisors used the process described in the California Revenue and Taxation Code, Chapter 6, Section 99.02 to change the fire district’s funding rate, something that has been advocated by a citizens action committee for most of this year.

East County Voters for Equal Protection (ECV) is advocating the use of this method to raise the ECCFPD funding level from about 7%, the lowest of all fire districts in the county, to just over 12%, the county average.

Since ECV began advocating for reallocation critics have claimed that the process doesn’t work, or that it takes too long.  Members of the local government establishment have gone to great lengths to criticize the reallocation process, which would increase fire district funding with no new taxes, by making false and misleading statements to the public.

Instead of supporting reallocation a group of government and fire district union employees has worked to create a way to tax the public.  This resulted in Utility User Taxes being place on the November 8 ballot in the cities of Brentwood and Oakley, but not the other parts of the fire district, the towns of Discovery Bay, Byron, Knightsen, Bethel Island or the Marsh Creek unincorporated areas.

The recently reallocated property tax funds will begin accruing to the ECCFPD with the next fiscal year, beginning on July 1, 2017.  The process works, and it works rather quickly, in government time-speak.

The ECV plan for reallocation of the property taxes would increase funding for the fire district without raising taxes.  The plan calls for all entities within ECCFPD’s jurisdiction that receive property tax funding to contribute to the community’s safety.  Special districts and non-school government entities would use the same law the Board of Supervisors just used,California Revenue and Taxation Code section 99.02, to shift a portion of the growth of property tax funding to the fire district, while school entities would contribute a “public safety infrastructure fee” of comparable amount from their operating funds.

This year property tax valuation grew by over 8% in Brentwood, Oakley and most of the unincorporated county areas.  This is what Gus Kramer, Assessor for Contra Costa County, told the Board of Supervisors in a letter dated June 30, 2016.

By phasing-in the tax reallocation program goal of 5.2% over four years each year’s transferred amount would be 1.3% of the funding growth, well below expected growth.  As an example, if the reallocation plan were in place this year each entity’s growth in property tax funding would be 6.7% instead of 8%.  This is a small price to pay to assure the safety of East County residents.

If property tax growth unexpectedly fell below 3% the program could be suspended until such time as normal growth returned.

Using this method there would be NO CUTS to current government expenditures.  Revenues would continue to grow, but at a slower rate to accommodate the gradually shifting of funds to the fire district.

Once ECCFPD’s funding level is at the county average, about 12%, the structural funding problem of the district would be solved.  Full growth would return to the tax-receiving entities of East Contra Costa.

The most important aspect of the reallocation program idea is that it is a community’s solution to a community problem.

Scott is a Brentwood resident who occasionally becomes a community affairs activist. He is Co-Chair of East County Voters for Equal Protection, a non-partisan citizens action committee whose aim is to improve funding for the ECCFPD.  His email address is  scott.bryan@comcast.net,  his telephone number is 925-418-4428.  The group’s Facebook page is located at www.facebook.com/EastCountyVoters/.

East County group seeking solutions to fire district funding endorse Hardcastle for Supervisor

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ECVEP members with Doug Hardcastle

The East County Voters for Equal Protection (ECVEP), a group of residents who are working to find ways to fund the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District without a tax increase, have endorsed Oakley Councilman Doug Hardcastle in his race for Supervisor in District 3, for his support of their efforts.

The group supports reallocation of funds that other local agencies within the district boundaries, currently receive in property tax revenue. The fire protection district includes Oakley, Brentwood, Discovery Bay, Bethel Island, Byron and Knightsen, as well as the unincorporated areas of Clayton along Marsh Creek and Morgan Territory Roads.

“This can has been kicked down the road too many times,” said Rob Broocker, the group’s leader. “Doug recognizes that it’s time the local officials sat down and worked things out.”

Sign in the window of the closed Discovery Bay fire station.

Sign in the window of the closed Discovery Bay fire station.

At a recent meeting with Hardcastle at a closed fire station, in Discovery Bay, Broocker, a Santa Clara firefighter, painting contractor and Discovery Bay resident said, “Of two Discovery Bay Fire Stations one is closed. Even with a tax increase the second one can’t be guaranteed to be open, according to County Assessor Gus Kramer. At the same Discovery Bay Town Council meeting David Piepho said it will never be open due to the lack of funding.”

The group has met with board members and spoken before their meetings, as well communicated with other community leaders like Hardcastle, to get them to consider a reallocation plan instead of a third attempt at a tax increase.

“I appreciate the support of the East County Voters and look forward to continuing to work with them to find a solution to improving fire protection, without another tax increase,” Hardcastle said. “Our number one priority is safety of our families. You have to take this personal. You have to ask yourself, what if it was my house on fire or one of my family members in an accident? We deserve quicker response times for all of us.”

Speaking of the only current ECCFP board member who is also a candidate in the District 3 Supervisor’s race, Broocker stated “Steve Barr is not ready to step up and be a Supervisor if he can’t handle the job on the fire district board.”

At a candidates’ forum in Discovery Bay, Wednesday night, Barr said, “There is a task force that’s been formed. The first step the fire board has taken is do a study to find out what is the adequate number of fire stations in this district. That study, came in with a nine-station model. I think we’re on the right track. I’m hopeful this next measure or however it comes to you will be right.”

Hardcastle disagrees.

“We’ve had enough studies,” he responded. “People do not want to raise their taxes again. They tried it twice, already. It’s ridiculous they even tried it twice. We just need to learn how to spend our money properly.”

While the ECVEP is asking all the agencies within the bounds of the fire district to pitch in, Hardcastle only supports reallocating funds from the cities of Oakley and Brentwood, and the County, like was done with one-time money to re-open the fire station in Knightsen.

“I feel the only ones that have the ability to approve reallocation of money are our councils and the county,” he stated. “We just did it by funding the Knightsen fire station to get them open for 2017.”

That process was explained by another member of the group.

“When the self-appointed Task Force made their initial report to the fire board on October 21, 2015, they recommended emergency funding to open one fire station for a limited period of time,” stated Bryan Scott, a member of ECVEP. “They sought and obtained one-time funding from the cities of Brentwood and Oakley as well as the county.”

“The Task Force allocated the contributions from the cities and the county based on call volume to their respective areas,” he continued. “This came out to 49% for the city of Brentwood, 28% for the city of Oakley, and 23% for the county.”

“Using these same allocation percentages to increase fire district funding by $7.8 million would mean Brentwood would contribute $3,822,000, Oakley would contribute $2,184,000, and the county $1,794,000,” Scott explained.

Brentwood will pay a larger portion for two reasons. First, because they have a larger population than Oakley. Second, they receive a greater percentage of property tax, 16% than Oakley does at just 7%. Plus, they used part of funds set aside for fire protection on their police force, instead.

“We need the cities and county to pitch in to make this happen and in a fair way,” Hardcastle added. “It’s time to get this done.”

District 3 includes all of Oakley, Brentwood, Discovery Bay, Bethel Island, Byron, Knightsen and most of Antioch in East County, as well as Blackhawk, Diablo and Camino Tassajara in the San Ramon Valley. The election is June 7. For more information about Doug Hardcastle, visit www.doughardcastle.com or call the Campaign Headquarters at (925) 755-5053.