AUBURN, Calif. -- As many as 20 fire stations in the state could close, including the Cal Fire department station in Auburn, if a proposed budget cut plan is approved.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has asked Cal Fire to cut more than $52 million in budget cuts statewide.
Because of California's budget crisis, Cal Fire is proposing the closure of 20 fire stations statewide as well as another 11 inmate firefighting camps and one Helitack base.Fire officials acknowledge that it is conceivable that response times around Auburn could increase as much as 10 minutes in some cases.
Cal Fire officials are now pushing a new taxpayer fee. On average, that fee would also cost Californians an added $10 per year.
Source: KCRA
According to the governor's Web site, the Wildland Firefighting Initiative would be financed through a 1.25 percent surcharge on all property owners statewide, amounting to about $10-12 per property owner each year.
Daniel Berlant from Cal Fire said the fee would be much like you have the 911 surcharge on your cell phone bill.
That statewide fee would make up for the budget cuts and would keep the stations from closing.
If the governor's proposed fee is rejected and the cuts become permanent, no firefighters would lose their jobs statewide.
I doubt that fires are going to decrease just because there's less money and resources to fight them. But this IS another attempt to circumvent Prop 13 tax limits. It IS a tax on property - not approved by the voters. Citizens should have the line-item veto power. There are many things that should be trimmed before touching CalFire. Safety and security should be the PRIME function of tax dollars - Fire and law enforcement should be at the top of the list!
ReplyDeletehe is kidding, right???
ReplyDeleteCal Fire or California Division of Forestry needs to go back to its roots. It was a division of the Natural Resources Department a wildland fire fighting division that was seasonal with a limited staff in the winter months. The first place to make cuts is the Helitack program. What I mean by this is to cut the year round Helicopter program and bring back the contract helicopters for the fire season only. This will save millions of dollars in salaries and maintenance not to mention benefits and retirement. And that brings me to the air attack program. The whole fleet is aging not just the helicopters. These are WWll and vietnam era air craft that CDF cannot afford to maintain with spare parts running low. All air craft should be contracted on a seasonal basis and supplemented with call when needed air craft. The USFS has it right. It has a seasonal fire and aviation program, and no, I am not a USFS employee. The residents of California need to do their part as well by providing a fire safe environment in and around their homes and property. And by the way, it cost millions of dollars just to change the name from California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to Cal Fire. What a waste of tax payer dollars.
ReplyDeleteNorthops
What we all have to remember is CA now has an ALL YEAR fire season...at least in the south. Additionally, as more and more cities and county get into financial troubles...they look to CDF to be the solution. The days of Forestry only have long since gone and we need to adapt and move forward. The fee on insurance policies failed but they are now looking for raise the "Current" fee on SRA land parcels.
ReplyDeleteWait and See..Too many things changing and it might be July before we know for sure what they will close if anything.
ReplyDeleteWhat would Barack HUSSEIN Obama do.
ReplyDeleteWell looking at the proposed plan I feel that the need is there. If there has to be a 12 dollar a year increase to own a home and have fire fighters to save it then, thats whats best. I live in california and I am a home owner. I would pay an extra 100 a year if it keeps firefighters on shift to be there to say my life and my home. Due to the shortage of fire engines and crews during the winter I lost my home to a fire while I was out fighting other fires. Now I have a 200 foot cleared space, more than double the suggested open area and my home still burned.
ReplyDeleteLets pay our government officals less and get more fire,ems and police officials back to work.
The issue is CALFire (CDF) now does much more than just wildland, it has many structure contracts, with whole counties and various cities. The vast majority of the staffing in centeral and southern California is now staffing structure engines, medic units and truck companies.
ReplyDeleteThe issue of what the future is and does is not the problem with the budget. IF CALFire keeps developing into a 100% full service fire agency or split into to seperate divisions, one a fire agency the other back to a wildland - seasonal agency does not effect the problem right now.
Do we as taxpayers (not as firefighters...think as taxpayers) think that CALFire needs to staff those 55 hand crews year around ? Is there a option that we can live with better or can be a balance between more tax and emergency services.
While this is going on, what si the future effects of the 10% cuts from the state to the county and city governments that CALFire contracts with ? All this will effect the ability to use resourses and mean a chaneg to doing business. In the years just after prop 13, we saw a change to the way we staff fire engines, if FD's being more flexable in the wide range of services we provide and staffing adjustments (less per engine).
While I do not want to see cuts or loss of funding, the fact is the public need to know what effects less funding has and the taxpayer should be the one that votes any assessment or tax into place.