Dems, GOP unite to call for more tax revenue for VC Fire

Courtesy the Valley Roadrunner

The Valley Center Community Fire Coalition, a group formed of the local Valley Center Democratic Club, Valley Center Republicans, Promote Valley Center and community volunteers met on Tuesday evening at Fire Station No. 1 to announce a united front in requesting an increase in the tax apportionment Valley Center receives from the County.

Valley Center Fire Protection District receives only 2% of the property taxes local residents pay annually to the County of San Diego. The rest goes into the general fund.

Other fire protection districts in San Diego County receive as much as 14% or more of the annual property taxes they pay to provide Fire Protection and Paramedic Services. This is because VCFPD is a post-Prop. 13 district, formed after the passage of that amendment to the state constitution.

In 1981 a special fire district was created for unincorporated Valley Center and was allotted 2% of the property tax revenues collected from the community. Population was 8,856 compared to a population now of about 22,000.

According to this new coalition, “This outdated allotment amount has limited the ability of the Valley Center Fire Protection District to meet its recruiting and retention goals of firefighter-paramedics and firefighter-EMTs and to build much needed fire stations. Similar fire protection districts are allotted as much as 14% of revenues.”

The coalition met to try to influence the San Diego County Board of Supervisors of the need to support VCFPD’s request of increasing their allotment from 2% to 6%.

When the fire district attempted to persuade the community to vote for a tax measure that would have upped the tax rate, many people told them “Why don’t you go after more of the tax money we already pay to the County.” This is not an attempt to raise property taxes, but an effort to get a larger share of what is already collected.

The Roadrunner expects to have more on this developing story in future editions.