Countywide : Consultant to Study Tax for Fire Services
The Ventura County Fire Department--faced with crippling cuts in state funding--will hire a consultant to explore the possibility of taxing county property owners for fire services.
County supervisors agreed Tuesday to authorize paying a consultant $24,000 to study the feasibility of forming a special assessment district.
Fire Department officials say they are facing the loss of nearly half of their $46-million budget. Without the tax, they say they could be forced to close 15 fire stations and to lay off about 200 of the department’s 463 workers.
Fire Chief George Lund said the department expects to complete the study and present the findings in March.
He is unsure how much property owners could be taxed, but some estimates have exceeded $100 per parcel.
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