LAKEPORT — The Lakeport Fire District Board of Directors discussed a tax hike ballot measure it plans to bring to voters in a special election next spring at a district meeting Tuesday evening.
Comparing LFD’s in-progress ballot measure to the recent South Lake County Fire Protection Measure L (2018)—which is still lacking about half a percentage point in votes necessary to pass—board chair John Whitehead said that what LFD is planning will be a smaller, “much more reasonable” tax hike than South Lake County’s.
Local resident Bob Bridges urged the board to take action quickly to remedy staffing cuts made in October as a result of a severe lack of funds at the fire department due to a combination of rising labor costs and downturned ambulance revenue, among other factors.
To keep the budget out of the red, the district let go of three full time firefighters and three part-timers in October. Negotiations with the firefighters union have remained at an impasse, with both the board’s position on the layoffs and the union’s offer to take a pay cut in order to keep more firefighters on staff, unchanged.
To date, the department has identified as its primary course of action a ballot measure which would bring the two components of its taxpayer district—the area inside Lakeport city limits being one component, and surrounding areas making up the other—up to speed with one another. Tax rates outside the city limits have not been raised since the 1990s, while the city tax rate has gone up incrementally each year according to the structure of the tax itself. The amount of the proposed increased tax rate had not been decided as of Tuesday.
According to LFD Chief Doug Hutchison, another possibility for funding—competitive FEMA-sponsored SAFER grants, which are awarded specifically to fire departments in need of more staffing—has been aided by a recent development. Hutchison said that a professional grant writer has offered her services pro bono in order to assist with LFD’s application for the grant, which if successful could bring money in as soon as next summer.
On hold for the district is the appointment of a new director to the board to fill the seat left vacant by longtime director Gerry Mills, who retired in September. The County of Lake is responsible for appointing special district directors like those of the Lakeport Fire District, but has, according to Chief Doug Hutchison, become aware of a legal error in its procedures which requires correction before the County can move forward with the appointment.
Hutchison did not know how long it would take for the district’s recommended director, Gary Hill, to be able to begin the appointment process. Furthermore, Director Bill Whipple stated that Hill may no longer be interested in becoming director. Should Hill bow out, it is unclear who the recommendation from the district would be, though the two candidates for the position who applied with Hill—accountant Sheryl Pick and ex-firefighter Gregory Scott—are likely.
