How to resolve AdBlock issue? Measure E is scheduled for a special election on Tuesday, April 10. Absentee voters will have already received their ballots in the mail.
Fire Chief Jay Beristianos said Measure E will increase the current fire fee on property tax bills.
He said the increase is needed to keep the district sustainable. While the district currently is stable, Beristianos said they have to project their needs into the future.
“Our revenue is pretty much flat but our expenditures continue to go up,” he said.
He added, “Just like everyone else who had a job we need a raise,” noting the district’s fire fee hasn’t been raised in 22 years in all areas but Clearlake Oaks, where there was a fee increase in 2004.
Currently, the fire fee on property tax bills for single family residences in Upper Lake is $45, $57.50 in Nice, and $60 in Clearlake Oaks and Lucerne, Beristianos said.
He said Measure E would increase the fire fee for all areas of the district to $120 for a single family residence.
Beristianos said that breaks down to $10 a month, which he said is relatively inexpensive when considering that it will fund his agency’s efforts to keep the communities safe.
A brochure on the measure explained that the district will need to look at a number of alternatives in the upcoming years if a revenue increase isn’t available. It said that could include closing stations, limiting emergency medical services, public assists or other community services.
Because it’s a special tax, Measure E must receive a two-thirds supermajority vote, or 66.7 percent, Beristianos said.
If approved, Measure E would go into effect on July 1 and would first be reflected on the property tax bills due this December and next April.
Beristianos said the district has 23 paid staffers across its 357-square-mile district, which makes it one of the largest districts in California in land size. It has seven stations, three of them volunteer, and 38 pieces of equipment to serve a population of 12,000 people.
Right now, the district has no money for equipment replacement plans. Some of its frontline equipment is 40 years old, and Beristianos said it has been purchasing equipment that other agencies are surplusing out.
The district’s call volumes also are increasing. In 2012, it had a total of 2,531 calls for service, of which 2,050 were medical calls and 481 were fire incidents. In 2016, it had 2,952 calls for service, of which 2,161 were medical calls and 791 were fires, the district reported.
Measure E will help the district afford to pursue goals including hiring staff to keep the Upper Lake station staffed around the clock, he said.
The district currently has no money to remodel the Upper Lake station, built in 1946. “It needs love,” he said.
Beristianos said the district isn’t able to depend on volunteers as much as it has in the past because of the personal expense for training and equipment, as well as general lack of availability.
He said about 20 volunteers are on the roster, but only about six to eight are actually active and responding to calls. Many of them have to balance their volunteering and the continuing need for training with their day jobs. It also can cost about $3,000 for a volunteer to get outfitted in basic gear.
“It’s not for everybody,” he said.
Among its three volunteer stations – Spring Valley, Glenhaven and Blue Lakes – Spring Valley is the most active, said Beristianos. It has one full-time paid person and three volunteers, while there are no volunteers for Blue Lakes and Glenhaven.
A lack of volunteers isn’t just a Lake County problem, Beristianos said. It’s nationwide.
If it secures Measure E, another of the district’s goals is to create a paid-call volunteer firefighter program like South Lake County Fire has in place. Beristianos said it’s hoped that such a program would give people an incentive to work for the district and offer greater accountability.
“We’re doing whatever we can to staff stations,” he said. “You have to be pretty creative nowadays.”
He said they district is trying to catch up with its many needs. “We’ve been able to stretch the money out as far as we possibly can.”
Beristianos said the district’s need for the revenue increase is “simply business math.”
“We’re not waiting to the last minute,” he said.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
