Lake Valley fire regrouping after crushing vote
Proper defensible space spared this house in the Angora burn area. Photo/Lake Valley Fire
By Kathryn Reed
Lake Valley Fire Protection District’s desire to tax property owners for fire prevention went up in flames Nov. 4.
Voters overwhelming said no. Nearly twice as many people voted no (66.48 percent, 1,323 votes) compared to those who said yes (33.52 percent, 667 votes.)
“Basically people don’t want a tax increase,” Dave Huber, chair of Lake Valley’s board of directors, told Lake Tahoe News. “We are going to regroup and see where we go from here.”
The next board meeting is Nov. 13.
Measure H would have replaced Measure M with a $120 fee tied to the consumer price index. Projections were that it would bring in $1 million a year. It would not sunset.
Measure M, which has existed since 1986, remains in effect. Property owners pay $20 year, it is not tied to the CPI, and it has no expiration date. The $150,000 raised each year goes to the general fund.
While the bulk of Measure H would have gone to fuels reduction projects, allocations also called for upgrades to facilities and equipment.
“The district still has a difficult future ahead of it financially,” fire Lt. Martin Goldberg told Lake Tahoe News.
He believes the measure didn’t pass because of the CPI, no expiration date and people paying the CalFire tax that they see no benefit from.
Goldberg believes residents care about wildland fire prevention, but they don’t want to pay for it.
Private property owners are not doing their part to be fire safe, he said.
“You are only as safe as your closest neighbor. If there is fuel to burn on their property, then yours is likely to catch fire as well,” Goldberg said.
But residents have said they don’t want to pay for their neighbors’, that it should be that person’s burden and should not be shared.
California has defensible space laws on the books that allow local fire departments to take punitive action against property owners who aren’t in compliance. Until now, Lake Valley has gone the passive route – namely through education. It would be up to the board if fines were to ever be issued.
Also, likely to go by the wayside is the chipping program. People could limb trees and take out small ones, then have the matter chipped. That could then be used as mulch.
The fire district is applying for a grant from CalFire that could extend the chipping program another year. The $10 million the state is offering is from the fee that has been collected. Lake Valley is in the running for $25,000.
I think most voters do believe in wildland fire prevention and even some cost sharing to help out their neighbors. But a 500% tax increase in one year is massive and was not, in my opinion, sufficiently justified.
Not taking sides here, since I live neither in nor near LVFPD’s protection area. But this article, while not necessarily relevant to the immediate issue, perhaps provides some insight for those of you (us) who actually think about these issues.
Judging from yesterday’s election, our ranks are diminishing, but one can only hope that actually attempting to understand the issues, regardless of pre-conceived notions, eventually returns to public discourse. I’m not optimistic:
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/as-wildfires-worsen-calls-for-change-in-tactics/ar-BBdbeHT
If it had been a $50.00 a year, no COLA’s I would have voted yes. Going the fine method will surly wear out the hero card, be careful guys.
Hey Bill, don’t encourage them! I would vote no either way, we already pay enough taxes. They always try to sugar coat it. It would go to raising there salaries.
This was a poorly written measure with unrealistic increases that could go on forever. Chipping can’t cost that much and I bet if there had to be a reasonable fee charged for chipping, residents would be more than happy to pay it. The hand crew seems to be outsourced to other agencies who are paying for their services, so that shouldn’t be an issue and quite honestly, how much land in lvfpd’s area is land that they would need to thin? It’s mostly forest service/federal land and not in their jurisdiction to maintain!
If LVFPD had teamed up with other rural fire districts and fought the very unfair CalFire tax through the state legislature then I might support a modest local increase in the future. But this measure went down in flames (sorry, pun) because it was a large tax on top of a similar large tax. I think most Californians feel over taxed and over nannied.
Correct me if I’m misinformed, but where were TRPA policies considered with this initiative? I didn’t have a vote since I’m not a resident, but no doubt would have seen the tax increase on my vacation property up there. Anyone with property up there has the capacity to generate sufficient, or more than sufficient defensible space, or run the risk, and live with the results of not doing so. I’ve been interested in getting rid of a dozen trees within arm’s reach of my building, but am repeatedly told that I’ll be fined into the ground by TRPA if I so much as touch a branch. Fine. Raise a tax. And send the entire bill to the TRPA. Not sure if they ever fully answered for their contribution to the Angora disaster.
DougM,
Have you tried this summer to remove any of those trees ? The way the forest service and ctc are removing trees, some lots are almost clear cut. They did raise the tree size to 30″ diameter you could cut without a permit, just have the fire department come mark them for you. When I had a defensible space inspection, they suggested I cut down several trees, trees that were 20-30 ft from my house ! Call Lake Valley and see what’s up ?
Not sure about the comment that I’m not doing my part to be fire safe? I cleaned up my yard this year after Cal Fire came by for an inspection. I voted for H so thanks for the insult.
How many redundant fire fighting agencies to we need to create ?
Shouldn’t local and state fire fighters be performing some sort of legitimate community service on off seasons to earn their pay ?
Why do we need to fund a whole new crew and facilities to do defensible space/chipping when local and state firefighters have off seasons ?
Toxic – you have made it extremely clear how naive you are as to what local firefighters do every day on the job – day in and day out! Do your homework before criticizing something you obviously know NOTHING about! I wasn’t a supporter of Measure H, but it had nothing to do with how our local full-time firefighters earn their pay!
Toxic, when did they start parking the ambulances in winter?
“I’ve been interested in getting rid of a dozen trees within arm’s reach of my building, but am repeatedly told that I’ll be fined into the ground by TRPA if I so much as touch a branch.”
what you were told just in not true, but if you were really interested in doing this you would have talked to TRPA not whoever you relied on to make an important decision?
I agree that this was a poorly written proposition. A 500% increase in tax PLUS up to 3% per year increase with no time limit. It was asking for just way too much. They asked for the moon, but didn’t get it. Simple math tells me that a 3% increase every year results in an exponential curve that goes to infinity over time. A more reasonable request probably would have passed.
I do agree with that link Copper posted above.
The fire measure failed because it was seen as too far, too fast, and as Hank Raymond pointed out, had no limits as written except the promise that the LVFD would not increase the tax “unless they needed to”. Who believes a bureaucrat?
LVFD got so fat on the largess of grants and free money after the Angora fire that they were not willing to consider that situation a windfall, and go back to a more supportable operation. LVFD apparently decided to wave the fear-for-public-safety flag and try to scare us into giving them everything they wanted. This failed effort begs the question of who provided the advice and counsel to go straight for an unlimited tax. I hope they didn’t pay a lot of money for it.
I am glad this gambit didn’t work, but I, like many, would have voted for a less contentious and grandiose proposal without a permanent escalation clause.
My wife and I are retired, and watching our finances become less and less sufficient to keep everything together and the heat on. I am not alone in this. And yes, I keep my lot trimmed with recommended defensible space, etc.
Most of us locals also are aware of the well known failure of the local fire agencies to cooperate and play well together on ways to run fire fighting operations more efficiently.
But it became a turf war, and all the chiefs want to be the big chief, so to speak.
This situation would probably have gotten worse if this tax had passed, and you can bet the city would have followed shortly just to keep up.
I believe all fire suppression in the Tahoe basin (outside the forest service and CalFire) should operate under common management and direction. Maybe even the FS and CAlfire would participate in a joint powers agreement to aid the effort.
Several years ago, the City tried a similar scheme, a “Fire Benefit Assessment District” special city tax that similarly failed at the ballot box. The Fire Department got dangled like raw meat in front of the voters, with threats of chaos and houses burning unattended if the tax didn’t pass. Other than the planning department customer counter closing an hour for lunch and some sensible downsizing throughout the city, no city residents I am aware of noticed any fire department performance changes following.
Thanks Steven & LJames. It sounds like TRPA has loosened its policies immensely over the past few years. Might’ve been that long since I asked. It was the long standing manager of Tahoe Village atop Kingsbury grade, who just retired recently, that I got my info from, as well as R&Rs that came with the property when purchased. She knew policy well. At the time they were quite insistent and detailed in their restrictions. Atop the grade, part of one’s property could have runoff flowing away from the basin, and no questions asked there. But if over here, water went to a drain that went toward the lake, ten miles away, nope, can’t touch any tree there. I love keeping Tahoe blue, but thought such a policy pretty extreme, nonsensical, and encouraging of fire hazards. But it sounds like a little more sense prevails these days. Will check it out.
After three years most homeowners in unincorporated areas on the California side of the basin are still reeling from the $150.00 illegal parcel tax fee known as the SRA Fire Fee (ABX1 129 and also listed on th EDCO website as the CalFire Fee). Yet I was expected to vote in favor of another $120.00 parcel tax that is tied to the CPI? Now I’m insulted by Goldberg’s misconstrued and false belief that I’m, “not doing my part”. I’ve done my part. I have paid my yearly CalFireTax on time. I have done my due dilegence and am fire safe. I voted NO on Prop H. Lt. Goldberg …. Come On Man!
DougM
With your property at the top of Kingsbury, you are dealing with Nevada, not the agencies in California, which this article and comments are about.
You could try the fire station on Elks Point Rd. and maybe the Forest Service office on College Ave in Calif. can point you in the right direction.
But if I were you, I would definitely talk to someone besides the manager of the Tahoe Village. They can tell you anything, make it sound official, while trying to protect their own agenda, as in not cutting any trees.
The forest service has also cleared many many acres in Nevada, so I would think your chances are good.
My neighbor across the street cut down about 10 HUGE trees around his yard. The TRPA was called twice. Nothing. They never bothered to even come out to look or return calls. L.V.F.D. sent out the chipper to chip those trees. You think they asked about them? Nah. Seems like they don’t care in the county (not that I am advising to chop trees down)…just don’t do it on the lake! Big $$ for them there.
Cranky Gerald, I would also like to know how the LVFD paid for the hard glossy expensive looking pamphlet they sent through the mails asking for money votes. When we were evacuated when the fire started, we were told that LVFD only did structure fires, and this was a forest fire and it was Sunday afternoon, so they were waiting for fire fighters to get here.