Special tax proposed for fire service in east Stanislaus County. What are the rates?
Oakdale Rural Fire Protection District will hold a mail ballot election on a special tax for fire protection and other emergency services.
Last week, Stanislaus County supervisors approved a consent item authorizing the Registrar of Voters to provide services for the May 5 election.
If approved, the tax on residential, commercial and industrial property will provide Oakdale Rural with money for equipment, higher service levels and continuation of an emergency services contract with Modesto Fire Department. The fire district includes areas north, south and east of the city of Oakdale on both sides of the Stanislaus River.
Property owners will participate in the vote-by-mail election; two-thirds approval is required. The fire district will reimburse the county for an estimated $45,000 in election costs.
The proposed residential tax is $380 per dwelling unit annually, plus 7 cents per square foot. That amounts to $520 per year for a 2,000-square-foot home and $485 for a 1,500-square-foot dwelling.
The new tax would replace Oakdale’s Measure M levy of $165 per home, approved by voters in 2005, so the tax increase for a 2,000-square-foot home would be $355 annually or about $30 a month.
The annual rate would be $70 for miscellaneous structures, $140 for poultry houses, 33 cents-per-square-foot for commercial and industrial buildings, and 50 cents an acre for ag land including orchards. Those rates also would replace the existing Measure M taxes, not add to them.
The district board could approve annual adjustments to the tax rate based on Consumer Price Index inflation.
Fire district revenue would increase by $2.64 million a year, boosting the total to $3.24 million. Apart from special tax revenue, Oakdale Rural receives a little more than $600,000 a year from its regular property tax share.
Board President Gary Hampton said Oakdale Rural has faced rising costs since Measure M was approved by voters in 2005. The recession took a toll on district revenue and forced a downturn in district operations, he said.
Today, the 320-square-mile Oakdale Rural has no employees and operates one station at a time, either the Knights Ferry or Valley Home station. It has relied on a mutual aid arrangement with the Oakdale city fire service. Both agencies had a five-year contract for service with Stanislaus Consolidated Fire Protection District that expired June 30 and was not renewed.
Oakdale Rural and the city approved a three-year agreement with the Modesto Fire Department, making the MFD responsible for fire protection, medical calls, water rescues and other emergencies in Oakdale and the surrounding area. Oakdale Rural’s payments to Modesto are $1.97 million a year, while the city of Oakdale pays $2.65 million.
Oakdale Rural is running a $50,000 deficit this year and expects the same red ink over the next two years. “Between the second and third years of our contract with Modesto, our reserves will be exhausted,” Hampton said. The special tax would allow the district to continue with the Modesto contract after 2022.
Modesto entered the agreement with the understanding Oakdale Rural intends to upgrade from two-person to three-person engine crews.
With the special tax, the district would staff the Knights Ferry and Valley Home stations. The district needs to replace a 25-year-old engine and also buy or lease a second fire engine.
Hampton said the district board has left options open for service after the three-year deal with Modesto expires, but a long-term relationship with Modesto seems to make sense.
“We have been tremendously happy with the Modesto contract and the service we are getting,” Hampton said. “They bring resources our district would never be able to afford.”
