Supervisors Again Delay Action on Fire Department ‘User Fees’

An Orange County Fire Department proposal to start charging for lifesaving paramedic services next year has elderly residents in the South County worried--and the County Board of Supervisors apparently divided.

For the second time in as many weeks, the board on Tuesday delayed action on the proposal to raise $4.2 million a year for the Fire Department through “user fees” on a wide range of department services.

Supervisor Thomas F. Riley said he asked for more time to study the proposal after hearing from representatives of Leisure World in Laguna Hills. Riley’s district includes the senior citizen community of 22,000 along with much of South County, which would be most heavily affected by the new fees.

Many of the cities elsewhere in the county have their own fire departments and thus would not be affected by the proposed charges for county services.

“Here at Leisure World we pay taxes to the county just like everyone else,” said Eugene P. Conser, a Leisure World resident and member of its board of directors. “But we also pay (for services) that elsewhere are paid for by the county. Within Leisure World, the streets are all private. We pay for the maintenance. We pay for the security. . . . “

County fire officials have said they need an additional source of revenue just to keep pace with the county’s staggering growth. Under the proposal, homeowners and businesses in unincorporated areas would also be charged for repeated false fire alarms and repeat inspections needed because of persistent safety violations.

Low-income residents and those on fixed incomes would probably be charged paramedic fees on a sliding scale, although details have yet to be worked out. Both Riley and Supervisor Gaddi H. Vasquez, who also represents a South County district, complained that the proposal was too vague to adopt.

If approved, the fees would be part of a major restructuring of the Fire Department, the first since the county took over responsibility for fire safety from the state in 1980. The councils in each of the cities that contract for services with the county would also have to approve the fees. The cities are Cypress, Dana Point, Irvine, La Palma, Los Alamitos, Mission Viejo, Placentia, San Juan Capistrano, Seal Beach, Stanton, Tustin, Villa Park and Yorba Linda.

Homeowners and businesses in those areas would be given the option of paying a yearly user fee, similar to an insurance premium, which would cover the cost of any paramedic care provided to them. Those who decline the offer would have to foot the entire bill for any county emergency care they receive.