The San Juan Ridge Taxpayers Association voted at its September Board meeting to endorse Measure V on the upcoming November ballot. Measure V raises the sales tax by .5%, primarily for the purposes of fire prevention and safety. If passed by a majority of voters, it would:

  • Increase the frequency of fuels clearance along county roadways/improve evacuation routes
  • Contribute funding to large-scale fuel breaks
  • Expand chipping programs and provide year-round green waste disposal sites
  • Help law enforcement prevent illegal campfires
  • Help low-income seniors and people with disabilities with defensible space, home hardening and emergency preparedness
  • Improve early warning, shelter capacity, emergency communications and county disaster plans

Measure V will cost everyone who shops in Nevada County 50 cents per hundred dollars (not to include groceries and prescriptions.) It is expected to raise $12 million annually, all of which will be devoted to Nevada County. In these times when the combination of drought, rising temperatures and overcrowded forests have resulted in increasingly large and severe fires, all efforts to reduce fuels on the landscape and along evacuation routes should have our support–as should measures to better prepare for fire and emergencies.
 
What Measure V will NOT do is fund fire districts, agencies or fire suppression. Everyone appreciates our firefighters/first responders, but the fact that Measure V doesn’t fund firefighting efforts is not a reason to oppose it, in our opinion. We are very proud of the North San Juan Volunteer Fire Department for their quick and effective response to fires and other emergencies in our district, as well as providing mutual aid elsewhere. In 2014, voters in the NSJ Fire Protection District voted to pass Measure Q by more than the required 2/3ds votes. The measure is a parcel tax that has done much to increase the training, professionalism and equipment for our firefighters. Measure V will only increase the scope of this support by reducing fire severity and creating a safer environment for firefighters on roadways and fuel breaks.
 
We urge all Nevada County voters to support Measure V.

(For more information, see https://readynevadacounty.org/3526/Measure-V)
 
Board of Directors
San Juan Ridge Taxpayers Association