Tuolumne County Renews CAL Fire Contract As Sales Tax Measure Lingers

TCFD photo

Sonora, CA — The Board of Supervisors in Tuolumne County approved a new three-year, $34-million agreement, with CAL Fire for fire services.

CAL Fire provides 47 full-time equivalent positions as part of its agreement with the Tuolumne County Fire Department and staffs five stations (Mono Village, Mono Vista, Groveland, Columbia, and Jamestown).

County government leaders are hoping that a one-cent sales measure passes in November to help offset Federal Safer grant dollars that will be expiring in the coming years. If not, CAO Tracie Riggs has indicated that the county will have to review whether it is financially sustainable to keep the Columbia station open through the fiscal year 2024/25 and the Groveland and Mono Vista stations open through the latter part of Fiscal Year 2025/26.

District Four Supervisor Kathleen Haff posed the question, “What does living within our means actually mean, regarding fire and protecting the community?”

She says it would only include funding two fire stations, which is unacceptable. Haff said fire protection is a high priority, like putting deputies on the street.

Haff concluded, “There will be some big changes coming along if for some reason the sales tax initiative does not pass.”

District Three Supervisor Anaiah Kirk, speaking in favor of the new contract, added, “It is worth it if it saves one life.”

Kirk said it also comes down to economic development, adding, “If we don’t burn, we keep thriving, we keep growing, and we keep living. If we burn, go check out Paradise, look at the town, and see how they don’t really even have a government, they have outsourced everything, and nobody wants to move back there.”

Kirk stressed that he is committed to protecting fire and law enforcement services regardless of whether the ballot measure passes, and said he would propose serious cuts for other areas (if it fails).

District Two Supervisor Ryan Campbell said there is currently an effective fire system in place, and some of the recent incidents, like the Gate Fire (near Sonora and Jamestown) and the Pedro Fire (near Don Pedro), could have been much worse, if not for it.

Campbell said, “Most people probably won’t even remember the names of those fires next year, but the amount of risk that was there, if we had not prepared and invested in the kind of fire services that we have right now, those fires would be known nationwide because we would have lost communities that are so important to us.”

Supervisor Jaron Brandon also stressed the importance of the CAL Fire contract, and stated, “Our risk is proportional to our ability to respond.”

The county has also used one-time revenues to fund about $5-million in equipment upgrades over the past four years, which Brandon praised.

Board Chair David Goldemberg, a former firefighter, concluded, “The amount of progress that we have made has been incredible (fire protection services), and what we need to do, is keep it up. We’re not there yet. It has to be sustainable, and that is a necessity. The public counts on it, and we should provide it.”

County staff noted that the contract could be adjusted if the county is unable to afford it in the coming years.

A recent county review found that it would cost the county over a million dollars more per year to provide the same level of service on its own, if it chose to end the CAL Fire contract.