FP-5, the controversial fee added on to property tax bills for expanded fire protection, has many local citizens working on a ballot repeal. Now the City of Twentynine Palms is taking definitive action to push back on those efforts out of safety concerns. Reporter Heather Clisby has the details…
When landowners in the county’s expanded Fire Protection District 5, or FP-5, saw a $157 per-parcel fee added to their property tax bills, there was pushback. The imposed fee occurred after a process widely viewed as a violation of Prop 218, which requires voter approval of special taxes.
In a closed meeting on July 8, the Twentynine Palms City Council directed the city’s legal counsel and staff to challenge efforts to repeal this fire protection fee. City leaders are concerned that a repeal would interrupt a “critical government service” and is working to remove the issue from the November ballot. Should voters remove the FP-5 fee, the city will lose fire protection funding.
When the city, county, and water district transferred fire responsibility to the County Fire District (required by the Local Agency Formation Commission), they had to eliminate the parcel tax that previously existed. Should repeal efforts for FP-5 be successful, the city will be without funding for fire protection.
For more info on this matter, call Twentynine Palms City Hall at 760-367-6799.
Update: Due to incorrect information provided by the City of Twentynine Palms, the date of the special closed session meeting has been changed from June 8 to July 8.
