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Sales Tax for County Fire Protection? |
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Monday, 11 February 2008 |
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 At its meeting next Tuesday afternoon, the
Amador Fire Protection Authority may make a decision to
place a sales tax initiative to pay for county fire services on the November
ballot. In 2006, Amador
County voters defeated
Measure L which would have levied a quarter-cent sales tax increase to fund
some paid firefighter positions throughout the county. At the board’s January
meeting, Sutter Creek Fire Chief Butch Martin asked the AFPA Board to make a
decision on whether or not it would try a sales tax initiative again this year.
The AFPA board will also consider making a request to the Amador Board of
Supervisors to allocate a portion of the county’s property tax revenues to fire
protection. That came at the request of Amador Fire Protection District Chief
Jim McCart, who asked the Board to consider a property tax proposal be put on
the agenda for Tuesday’s meeting. The February 12th meeting will be held at 4:00 p.m in the Board of Supervisors
Chambers at the County Administration Center
in Jackson.
In a
related story -- In January, the Amador Fire Protection District responded to
160 incidents. 78
medical aid calls and 25 vehicle accidents accounted for 64% of the number
of calls made. There were 8 fire-related calls -- 4 structure
fires, 2 chimney fires and 2 vegetation fires. 59% of the
total calls occurred between the hours of 8 am and 5 pm – the number of
calls during normal business hours relates to the need for paid firefighters
during the day when volunteers may work out of the area or be unable to leave
their jobs for an emergency call.
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 24 February 2008 )
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