Last night, the Twentynine Palms Water District Board of Directors voted 4-1 to initiate the LAFCO procedure for annexation of fire protection services to the San Bernardino County Fire District. A similar decision three years ago fell apart when County Fire said the $80 per property tax that it would inherit from the Water District would force it to cut services. Reporter Dan Stork explains what’s different this time, in two parts. Today, the substance of the decision. Tomorrow, some highlights of the discussion that played a role in the decision process…
In pushing for annexation this time, Twentynine Palms Fire Chief Jim Thompson said there will be a sustainable revenue source. San Bernardino County Fire Division Chief John Chamberlin explained that the plan calls for the current service area to become a FP-5 district. The current $80 tax would go away and be replaced by the FP-5 rate, which is set by the County Board of Supervisors, and may be adjusted annually for inflation. The current FP-5 tax rate is $139.72 per parcel. The FP-5 option was available last time around, but no one knew about it locally.
Local Agency Formation Commission Executive Director Kathleen Rollings-Macdonald said that if and when LAFCO approved the annexation plan, the public would have an opportunity to protest. If more than 50 percent of the voters protest—not by ballot, but by direct protest to LAFCO—the process would be dead. If 25 percent to 50 percent of voters protest, then the issue goes to ballot. With less than a 25 percent protest level, the annexation would go through. In order for the process to play out by July 1, 2016, the detailed application process—including the thorny issue of unfunded pension liability — should be completed by the end of this September. Otherwise, annexation would slip by at least one year. Chief Thompson said the department would have to operate in the red during that year, or cut service levels.
TWENTYNINE PALMS WATER DISTRICT VOTES TO ANNEX FIRE PROTECTION TO THE COUNTY, PART 1 OF 2
