This new tax proposed for fire suppression is a cloak to pay down already incurred debt and duplicate already received services.
After reading an article in Sunday’s paper about Moraga Orinda Fire, it was time to join the opposed against Measure S. It is time to bring out the real truth about this wasteful new tax. The article written by Carol Penskar, “Moraga-Orinda Fire District not acting in residents best interest,” is so similar to what is happening in ECCFPD. The difference is that Moraga Orinda has the highest revenue per unit of all the fire districts in the region yet it still is underwater in debt.
ECCFPD is also underwater in debt to the amount of $11 million. ECCFPD is headed down the same bottomless pit as Moraga-Orinda unless it makes some real management decisions to head off the inevitable.
Sadly, this new tax will only delay the inevitable unless the real problem is corrected first. The ECCFPD measure will only buy the debt down in the fifth year to the goal of 85 percent. That’s not enough because there will continue to be 15-percent negative spending annually until we reach the very same situation we are currently in today.
In addition, the measure takes money that could be applied to that 15-percent underfunded pensions, but instead it will apply the new tax dollars to another venture. That venture is paramedic service that we already are receiving through another agency.
These two examples alone show that the money asked for will not be applied to truly correct what the measure states is wrong, but rather increases the duties and costs of fire at our expense while continuing to go further in debt.
The $11 million in debt did not happen overnight. The Board of Supervisors along with the commission needed to address a real 100-percent correction first before expanding prematurely into added services already provided. The correction of these two issues are between the union and the BOS.
This correction should be done first before asking the public for more money. Both the BOS and the commission have done nothing but put their hand out for more tax money that will not correct the issue of continued pension debt. The costs continue in the red after five years and will remain digging the debt 15 percent deeper annually until fixed, or come back and ask for a new tax again and again.
This tells me that “ECCFPD is not acting in the best interest of its residents.” Voting No on S will send a message to correct the root problem first (pension debt and duplication of service) before asking us to invest more. The way it’s written will not correct the revenue problem but rather delay it a few years down the road.
No on Measure S.
John Gonzales
Knightsen
Unfortunately blameing the BOS isn't going to help when we call 911 in July if the Measure fails. I recognize we have some problems that need to be addressed prior to moving forward with hiring additional employees. With that being said, ECCFPD offers the most effective service for the cost. As board member Barr challenged another critic (correct as Ms. Hunt, this one doesn't live in the district either) to find a more cost effective service option in California trying to serve 105,000 residents.