1 Re: City Council Mee0ng Agenda of April 16, 2024, Item 5. Fire Department Ad Hoc CommiDee, on the Future of Fire Delivery Services for the City of Sebastopol To the Honorable Mayor and Members of the Sebastopol City Council:
Thank you for the opportunity to address the Council at this juncture, as you make decisions on how best to revamp the delivery of fire services. I have a few ques0ons which I hope will contribute to a thoughPul discussion.
Ques0on 1. Before the choice of future partners was narrowed down to Gold Ridge FPD and Graton FPD, did the City consider joining with Sonoma County FD? Viewing the map of County of Sonoma Fire Agencies (CommiDee Report, page 180), it appears that the City shares borders with three neighboring fire agencies: Gold Ridge (west and south), Graton (north), and Sonoma County (east). The Sonoma County Fire Department has grown in recent years, and news reports indicate that some of the outlying fire districts in West County, which also struggle with staffing and funding challenges, have considered joining Sonoma County FD. This gives Sonoma County FD experience with mergers – cited as one of the advantages of Gold Ridge vs. Graton.
With addi0onal agencies contempla0ng mergers, what impact will these have on the overall map of fire service agencies, in terms of service, cost savings and access to funding? Ques0on 2. How would the exis0ng parcel taxes of the Gold Ridge FPD (or other merger partner) apply to property owners in the City, and does this make sense? If the City decides to merge with Gold Ridge FPD, it will amount to one of the largest property tax increases the City has ever seen, immediately imposing three separate parcel taxes approved by Gold Ridge District voters back in 1997, 2008, and 2019, with a projected revenue of $1.1 million – a huge bump to the City’s exis0ng General Fund alloca0on of $1.6 million for fire services. (See CommiDee Report, page 7. These tax measures are aDached to the Report, beginning at pages 32, 40, and 51 respec0vely.) The Gold Ridge parcel taxes each have different formula0ons, based on property assessment classes, such as residen0al, commercial (2019 Measure E includes a square footage charge), undeveloped, and pasture.
How will parcel taxes, which originated in a largely rural and agricultural service area, translate when applied in a built-out town, with much smaller lots and rela0vely dense commercial zones? Have city leaders, residents and business interests had a chance to consider the impacts? How do the calls for service (both fire and medical) compare, between sparsely vs. more densely populated service areas?
Ques0on 3. Has considera0on been given to the twin losses of control in the event of a merger, namely (a) the loss of representa0on on the fire district’s governing board and (b) the loss of oversight by the city’s council and administrators?
2 If maintaining local control and oversight over the delivery of fire services is important enough, the alterna0ve of simply contrac0ng out for services with a neighboring agency is worthy of review.
A parallel example of contrac0ng for services is well known in the law enforcement arena, where many small towns have contracts with local sheriff’s agencies. This does not involve any (immediate) new taxes, and the City retains the ability to review and modify terms of service, ac0ng through their councils and city administrators.
RespecPully,
Elizabeth McCarthy