July 21, 2026, Item #15
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Summary:
AG EN DA REPORT City of Poway
July 21, 2026
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
Craig Schmollinger, Director of Finance @..
Craig Schmollinger, Director of Finance
(858) 668-4411 or [email protected]
CITY COUNC IL
Resolution Renewing the Fire Protection Special Tax to be Collected on the Property Tax Roll for Fiscal Year 2026-27
Consideration of a Resolution renewing the Fire Protection Special Tax to be collected on the property tax roll for Fiscal Year (FY) 2026-27.
Recommended Action:
It is recommended the City Council take public input, close the public hearing, and adopt the Resolution renewing the Fire Protection Special Tax to be collected on the property tax roll for FY 2026-
27. Discussion:
Annually, the City collects various taxes, fees, charges, and assessments on the property tax roll by following the San Diego County Auditor and Controller's procedures established for such collections.
The composition of the taxes, fees, charges, and assessments varies slightly from year to year as the time span for the assessments expires or new areas and charges are added. The taxes, fees, charges, and assessments include: Fire Protection Special Tax; Weed Abatement; Lighting and Landscape Maintenance District Assessments; and Nuisance Abatement.
To collect these items on the property tax roll, it is necessary to adopt a Resolution setting the charges and to authorize staff to transmit the information to the San Diego County Clerk of the Board of Supervisors, and Auditor and Controller.
The following narrative explains the Fire Protection Special Tax to be collected via the San Diego County property tax roll. A parcel-specific listing of the amounts to be collected is on file in the City Clerk's Office.
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July 21, 2026, Item #15
Fire Protection Special Tax -Poway voters approved the Fire Protection Special Tax on June 17, 1997, which was codified as Poway Municipal Code Chapter 3.20 via Ordinance No. 476. As a special tax, the Fire Protection Special Tax can only be used to support fire protection services, including but not limited to the acquisition of equipment and the payment of personnel costs. Each property served with fire protection services is assigned point values to meet fire protection requirements as a fair and reasonable method of apportioning the special tax according to the use of the parcel (not the property value). As an example, residential properties are assigned 10 points for each dwelling unit on each parcel, commercial, industrial and institutional parcels are assigned 20 points per 1,000 gallon per minute required for fire water flow purposes, irrigated farmland assigned 4 points per acre, and vacant parcels assigned 2 points per parcel. The fire flow requirements are based on the Fire Suppression Rating Schedule of the Insurance Service Office (ISO). To calculate the tax for each property for FY 2026-27, the Fire Department assigned 212,198 points to 15,127 parcels. The tax rate of $3.12 per point is unchanged from FY 2025-26. The estimated Fire Protection Special Tax to be collected for FY 2026-27 is $658,473. For property tax roll purposes, a not-to-exceed amount of $700,000 is authorized by the Resolution (Attachment A). The higher amount is used in the Resolution to ensure that if further additions to the property tax roll are made, the authorized amount will not be exceeded. The amount per parcel is rounded to the nearest even whole cent. Parcels that are not listed on the property tax roll will be billed directly by the City.
Environmental Review:
This action is not subject to review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
Fiscal Impact:
The Fire Protection Special Tax helps support fire protection services provided by the Fire Department.
The Fire Department's total operating budget for FY 2026-27 is $18,773,307 while the estimated Fire Protection Special Tax to be collected is $658,473 or 3.5% of the total budget. For property tax roll purposes, a not-to-exceed amount of $700,000 has previously been authorized by the Resolution.
While the revenue can be used to offset all fire protection services, this revenue is specifically being used toward offsetting Fire Suppression division operating costs of $15,969,027 for FY 2026-27.
Expenses exceed the revenues to be collected through the Fire Protection Special Tax because the voter approved tax rate adopted in 1997 did not include an inflater. The Fire Protection Special Tax revenue estimate for FY 1997-98 was $535,000 which helped support a FY 1997-98 Fire Department budget of $3,193,860, or 16. 75% of the total budget.
In order for taxes, fees, and assessments to be collected on the property tax roll for FY 2026-27, it is necessary for the City Council to adopt a Resolution authorizing this action.
Public Notification:
A Notice of Public Hearing was published in the San Diego Union Tribune on Tuesday, July 14, 2026.
This notice is a requirement for the continuation of the Fire Protection Special Tax at the same level as current into FY 2026-27.
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July 21, 2026, Item #15
Attachments:
A. Resolution
Assistant City Manager
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Reviewed By:
Alan Fenstermacher
City Attorney
A&L)
Chris Hazeltine
City Manager
July 21, 2026, Item #15
RESOLUTION NO. 26-
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
POWAY, CALIFORNIA, RENEWING THE FIRE PROTECTION
SPECIAL TAX TO BE COLLECTED ON THE PROPERTY TAX
ROLLS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2026-27
WHEREAS, the residents of Poway approved a Fire Protection Special Tax in 1997; WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Poway desires to have the Fire Protection Special Tax collected on the property tax roll;
WHEREAS, pursuant to Poway Municipal Code 3.20.070 the City Clerk fixed the public hearing date as July 21, 2026 to adopt the Fire Protection Special Tax; and WHEREAS, following duly given notice, the City Council of the City of Poway did hold such public hearing, receiving, considering, and evaluating public comments.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Poway as follows:
SECTION 1: The not-to-exceed amount of $700,000 shall be collected on the property tax roll in the form of a Fire Protection Special Tax of $3.12 per point as authorized by Ordinance No. 476 of the City of Poway
SECTION 2: The City Clerk is instructed to forward a certified copy of this Resolution to the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors and the Auditor and Controller of the County of San Diego.
PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED at a Regular Meeting of the City Council of the City of Poway, California on the 21st day of July, 2026 by the following vote, to wit:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSTAINED:
ABSENT:
DISQUALIFIED:
Steve Vaus, Mayor
ATTEST:
Carrie Gallagher, CMC, City Clerk
4of4 ATTACHMENT A