We continue our special series looking back on the biggest Z107.7 News stories of 2015. Today, in part 3 of 4, the Twentynine Palms, Morongo Valley, and Wonder Valley fire departments were also in the news this year. In Twentynine Palms, after years of trying—and failing—to get residents to approve a higher special tax to pay for the operations of the fire department, the Local Agency Formation Commission said the fire district’s expenses were unsustainable and that the water district would have to raise fees or cede control to another agency. After missing one deadline after another, it appears the water district is finally going forward with plans to turn the fire department over to the county, with the city paying some of the fire district’s unfunded liabilities.
Morongo Valley is facing similar issues with its fire department. The department’s fire engines are 13 and 24 years old, and desperately need to be replaced. The fire department is holding fundraisers to raise the $500,000 it needs. And earlier this month, the Morongo Valley Community Services District directors voted to place a $350 annual tax on the ballot next year to save the small community’s fire department.
And Wonder Valley residents learned that their tax assessments are not enough to support their fire department. They will either have to approve a tax that’s more than 10 times what they are currently paying, or face drastically reduced services.
