Five North Monterey County Fire Protection District firefighters laid off
UPDATE 7/5/2019 1:30 p.m. The North County Fire Protection District of Monterey County (NCFPD) announced on Friday that five firefighters received their layoff notices and final paychecks, bringing an end to their positions at the NCFPD.
The NCFPD serves 40,000 residents in the north part of Monterey County, including Prunedale, Oak Hills, Castroville, Moss Landing, Elkhorn, Pajaro, Las Lomas and Royal Oaks. They say with the end of the five positions and the elimination of 4 firefighter positions in the last 3 months, the District’s fire fighting force is reduced by 28 percent. The NCFPD says that could mean an increase in response time and a reduced ability to respond to mutual aid calls.
The district says it is exploring ways to raise money to rehire the firefighters and avoid more personnel and service cuts.
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UPDATE 6/21/2019
The North Monterey County Fire District, many of its residents and Monterey County supervisor John Phillips are on board with supporting full-time firefighter jobs, but reallocating funds to save those jobs, isn’t so simple.
The North County Fire District plans to eliminate five full-time firefighter jobs in July. The chief says if help doesn’t come soon, more could be cut.
“If we do not get some sort of revenue relief an increase in our revenues we will be forced to close a fire station July 1 of next year,” North Monterey County Fire District Chief Richard Hutchinson said.
This fire district is independent of the count. That means only a portion of the fire district’s budget comes from the counties funds. Right now that’s over $5 million a year, which the county says is more than ever before. Supervisor John Phillips says an increase may not be fair or realistic.
“it’s hard to say we’re going to take even more and short one of these other departments or agencies,” Monterey County district 2 supervisor John Phillips said.
The north county fire district relies heavily on funds from the moss landing power plant, but over the last two decades that revenue has been diminished. That means the layoffs are coming, which concerns people like Bill Wiggins who’s lived in the Oak HIlls neighborhood for 30 years.
“There’s a lot of trees, a lot of undeveloped land where the weeds grow wild. So yes it’s a real threat,” Bill Wiggins said.
He speaks for many neighbors who say they’ll do what it takes to keep those firefighter jobs.
“I for one would be willing to pay for taxes for the security of having them around,” Wiggins said.
According to supervisor Phillips, there are other potential solutions. Public safety revenue could be reallocated, but that may not be fair to other agencies. Digging not emergency funds or getting a grant is another option. However, the most likely revenue source would be to increase property taxes, even though a similar measure didn’t pass in 2018.
“We need our fire departments out there,” Phillips said. “They’re vital to us, and we’re trying to find a way to support them, but i think we need to take another run at a ballot measure.”
Phillips is bringing this issue to the board of supervisors next week to see what kind of solutions they can come up with.
UPDATE 6/20/2019: Monterey County released a statement, Thursday, defending the funding they give to the North Monterey County Fire Protection District. It reads in part:
“Public comments have been made suggesting a lack of financial support by Monterey County may cause layoffs in the North County Fire Protection District. This is not true and does not reflect the significant support the County and county taxpayers provide for this critical service; in fact, public safety is a top priority for the County of Monterey with over $240 million allocated in the latest budget to keep our communities safe.”
In their release, the county points out that revenue sharing for the district has increased every year since 2014, including a nearly $126,000 bump for the 2019-2020 fiscal year.
The statement also includes a message from Monterey County Supervisor John Phillips, who represents much of north Monterey County. He writes that the district has been hit by declining revenues because og the “assessed value of the Moss Landing Plant and pension liabilities.” Phillips says he has asked the county budget staff to analyze the district’s troubles and provide recommendations.
PREVIOUS STORY: On July 1, five firefighters from the North Monterey County Fire District will hang up their gear for the last time.
Central Coast native, Carter Train, is one of them. “I worked hard to get here. I just recently got off probation about six months ago. I went through a lot of testing and a lot of training to get where I am. I love the community and don’t believe there is another job I’d love to have more than this one,” said Train.
Train said becoming a part of the North Monterey County Fire District was a goal he set for himself long ago. For the past year and a half he has worked, not only, to keep North Monterey County safe, but surrounding California communities. Friday, he was told the district would have to let him go.
Fire Chief, Richard Hutchinson, said this is a result of cuts to the district’s budget. “Annually, we need an additional $1.25 million to adequately provide services and replace equipment. We’ve deferred replacement for quite some time,” said Hutchinson.
Hutchinson said the problem stems from a low percentage of property taxes given to the district. He said the percentage they receive is the lowest of all fire districts in Monterey County.
In 2001, legislation substantially decreased the value of the Moss Landing Power Plant. Hutchinson said this was an additional source of funding for the district. “In putting together a balanced budget I had to take that step. That was something we had to do to come within budget. We had to eliminate those five positions,” said Hutchinson.
North Monterey County Supervisor, John Phillips, said he has asked the board to look into more funds for the fire district.
Hutchinson fears if the county cannot help the effects could be detrimental. “If we do not get some kind of revenue release we will be forced to close a fire station, July 1 of next year,” said Hutchinson.
The board plans to discuss Supervisor Phillip’s referral at a meeting, Tuesday, June 25th.
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