Last year, property owners in the county’s more than 19,000-square-mile Fire Protection District 5 saw the new $157 per parcel fee added to property tax bills. First conceived of by County Fire administrators, the fee was to provide a steady revenue stream and bail the department out of a multi-million-dollar budget shortfall. However, angry residents have forced a referendum vote on the FP-5 fire fee this November, where they’ll be asked whether it should stay or go. Fire Chief Dan Munsey, who took over as the county’s fire chief last year, was on the Z107.7 Up Close Show Friday to provide perspective on what the fire fee does and what would happen if it is eliminated. Managing editor Tami Roleff has the highlights…
“The immediate effect if FP-5 is repealed would be the loss of 15 to 20 fire stations across the county.”
County Fire Chief Dan Munsey says the FP-5 fire fee helps fill a $41.5 million dollar shortfall in the fire department’s budget.
He said the South Desert area—which includes the Morongo Basin east to the Arizona border—has six fire stations (Yucca Valley, Yucca Mesa, Joshua Tree, Twentynine Palms, the Parker area, and Needles.
“We will need to go from six to three fire stations…. To make this decision, we’re still looking at which fire stations we would need to close. And we make a determination of where we can do the most amount of good for the most amount of people.”
Munsey said the county’s goal is to have a six-minute response to calls; he said if three stations are forced to close, the response time will increase.
In addition, other services, while paid for out of the county’s general fund, would likely be eliminated.
“The helicopter program that we have in conjunction with the Sheriff’s Department; inmate fire crews; we have specialized swift water rescue and personnel that are trained to do those rescues, or we put heavy equipment—bulldozers or front-end loaders that go into flood channels to clear them of debris while the water is running–those type of programs that the county’s continually funded. With the shift of FP-5, it’s very likely those programs would go away.”
To listen to the complete Up Close Show podcast, go to: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id386367587
