Shasta County voters decide on fire, ambulance service tax
Burney voters decide if they will support a tax to fund emergency and fire protection services when they go to the polls on Nov. 8.
If it passes — a “yes” vote passes the tax — Measure B would tax each single-family home up to $75, raising about $238,000 annually for the Burney Fire Protection District which sponsored the measure.
That money would make a “huge difference” whether or not the protection district will be able to hire firefighters and keep up ambulance services, said Fire Chief Robert May.
“This is a critical juncture for the fire district,” May said.
There are no full time positions at this time. All fire staff are volunteers, and few volunteers are available. The district pays each volunteer $20 per call and the training takes time and energy away from each volunteer’s paying job.
Adding $238,000 to the budget would mean the district could staff the fire department on a regular basis and hire people at a “market-driven wage,” May said. “The additional money would get us back to a full-time chief and three full-time firefighters.”
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Asking people to grow their tax burden may be a difficult sell in a year of inflation spikes.
Rural households are often hit harder by inflation than their urban counterparts, especially rising food, heating and gas prices, according to an Iowa State University study. Transportation costs are “especially worrisome. Rural people have longer commutes to work, have to travel farther for daily needs like grocery shopping, and have to drive to larger cities for education and healthcare services.”
If voters turn down Measure B, the district will have to make some hard choices regarding which services to keep or cut, May said.
Current funding for district services including fire suppression and prevention come from property taxes, he said: About $380,000 per year.
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That money also covers emergency medical services, May said. The district’s is one of two ambulances available in the intermountain area — a region spanning 1,600 square miles. The fire district covers the west side of the Pit River, while Mayers Memorial Hospital District covers the east side.
“We’ve been providing ambulance service since 1939, since the inception of the fire district,” May said. It’s been volunteer-run most of that time.
To read the measure go to bit.ly/3gNxhzH.
Jessica Skropanic is a features reporter for the Record Searchlight/USA Today Network. She covers science, arts, social issues and entertainment stories. Follow her on Twitter @RS_JSkropanic and on Facebook. Join Jessica in the Get Out! Nor Cal recreation Facebook group. To support and sustain this work, please subscribe today. Thank you.