The Local Agency Formation Commission will move forward on a plan for County Fire to take over fire protection services from the Twentynine Palms Water District. Twentynine Palms City Manager Frank Luckino said yesterday’s LAFCO protest hearing received only 170 protests, which is just 3 percent of registered voters and property owners in the area affected, far short of the 50 percent needed to kill the plan. Protests from 25 percent to 49 percent would have triggered a special election. The annexation of the Twentynine Palms Fire District to Service Zone FP-5 includes a special tax for funding of fire protection and emergency medical response services. This special tax includes an annual inflationary rate of up to a maximum 3 percent increase. The current rate for FP-5 is $143.92 per parcel for fiscal year 2015-16. If the maximum 3 percent increase is applied for FY 2016-17, the annual tax will be $148.24 per assessed parcel.
WITH ONLY 3 PERCENT PROTESTING, COUNTY TAKEOVER OF TWENTYNINE PALMS FIRE TO MOVE FORWARD
