Leonard Powell: Taxes for Salida fire protection are illegal

The Salida Fire District is wrongfully seeking to assess a special tax to provide its services. New taxes for fire protection require a two-thirds majority, and are not eligible for Prop 218’s reduced 50-percent majority. Under Proposition 218, only special benefits over and above the benefits conferred on real property in the district are assessable. Since all parcels in the District will benefit from this assessment, it is a general – not a special – benefit. That makes it a special tax subject to the two-thirds majority requirement of Prop 13.

Governments know this. The Salida Fire Board is fraudulently disguising this attempt to bypass the two-thirds majority required of new special taxes. This “knowing violation” is a breach of public trust and must be stopped. Instead, the county should cover fire protection costs since funding public safety is their responsibility under the state constitution. The County Board of Supervisors knew these services were required when they approved the development that causes a need for services, and they voted to quadruple Salida’s population anyway. The board and their legal counsel know the proposed assessment is illegal. Since they voted to support this scam rather than object, they appear just as guilty.

This story was originally published June 8, 2015 at 6:27 PM with the headline "Leonard Powell: Taxes for Salida fire protection are illegal."