Maintaining fire services? We’re gonna need a bigger pie

Yesterday, by a unanimous vote, the Nevada County Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution to not reopen the county tax share agreement. The decision to leave the apportionment as is came after local fire districts, namely Nevada County Consolidated, Ophir Hill, Penn Valley and Rough & Ready had asked for a greater share of tax revenues to backfill their budget shortages and increase staffing.

Supervisors also indicated they’ll continue to work with the fire districts to find solutions, including advocating at the state and federal level for additional funding.

Over the past five years, the county has provided $5.87 million in support to local fire districts, including grants, Title III and Proposition 172 allocations, defensible space contracts, surplus equipment — supporting 12 local fire agencies. The $5.8 million does not include support allocated in the current (25-26) fiscal year.

We’re gonna need a bigger pie

The cash-strapped fire districts turned to the county asking for a larger share of the available tax dollars. The 1% ad valorem dollars are broadly split into four categories: Schools, special districts, county and cities. The percentage allocated to schools is fixed, leaving the three other slices of the pie to fund local agencies.

The request by the fire departments to receive a larger share of the funds would equate less funding for other agencies. In plain English, you can only slice a pie so many ways. If ravenous teenagers go for seconds or thirds someone else will get a smaller slice – if any. One possible solution: Get a bigger pie.

During yesterday’s BOS meeting, Supervisor Swarthout addressed the need for a bigger pie in more diplomatic terms, “I think it’s extremely important for people to understand what their responsibilities are as taxpayers. If they if they want additional services how how are those going to be paid for? When you talk about a major staffing change of going from two firefighters on an engine to three for better safety, I think the public needs to make that decision. Do they want to pay for that that additional service?

Supervisor Hoek noted that conversations about reopening the tax share agreement have been ongoing for quite some time and the unintended consequences for other special districts and the county could be devastating, “When we really dig deep at all of our small districts this would be devastating. Everybody will lose. I mean, when you open a tax sharing agreement even if we had put all of the county funding in there it wasn’t going to fix the gap. So having to look at other directions, I think legislatively and where we have to still support our fire departments moving forward because they are the heart of our communities. We realize that.”

IGS Director Craig Griesbach responded to a question by Supervisor Tucker asking how the vote would affect the consolidation, stating, “Supervisor Tucker, this decision today essentially shuts the door of negotiating the tax allocation agreement, it doesn’t shut the door looking at other vehicles of filling gaps for fiscal solvency, legislative advocacy at the state level. There’s a myriad of solutions and that’s what it’s going to take to move these efforts forward. So, it it does make it a definitive answer on the tax allocation agreement, but it does not shut the door on conversations for all the other vehicles.”

LAFCo, the Local Area Formation Commission, completed a Municipal Service Review (MSR) of Fire and Emergency Response Services in February of 2025. The last comprehensive LAFCo MSR for these agencies happened in 2005. The report explains the funding limitations as follows:

Fire districts in California, and Nevada County in particular, face systemic challenges in balancing revenue and expenditures. Fire district funding was primarily based on a share of the property tax; as limitations on property tax have manifested over time, the districts have come to increasingly rely on voter-approved assessments to bridge the gap between revenue and expenditures. Some of the independent districts in Nevada County have enacted two or even three rounds of assessments. There exist significant differences in the allocation of property tax share to the districts, and vast differences in the levels of assessments. Totals for assessments range from zero to $416 annually in the fire districts. There is not a direct correlation between the amount of assessment and the level of service- in fact, some of the highest assessments are in districts with the lowest levels of service.

The report also states: “All the fire districts in Nevada County are struggling financially. This is a common theme across California’s fire districts that is especially acute among rural fire districts.”

The report listed recommended actions that included Nevada County Consolidated, Penn Valley, Rough and Ready, and Ophir Hill fire districts reorganize into a single fire district as soon as practical. In conjunction with that larger consolidation, the report then recommended reopening the tax share agreement and that the reorganized fire district place a single, consistent supplemental assessment that includes a cost-of-living allowance before the voters or landowners, as the case may be. the report concluded that “The funding derived from the new assessment structure should provide for three-person engine crews at least at key fire stations.”

LAFCos are independent political subdivisions of the State of California tasked with administering a section of planning law known as the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act, this includes managing boundary lines by approving or disapproving proposals involving the formation, expansion, or dissolution of cities and special districts. [Source: Nevada County LAFCo]

A history of recent budget woes

Fire districts in Nevada County, are independent districts with their own elected boards, budgets and staff. Like the county or cities, they are required to have a balanced budget. Increasing costs to provide fire and medical services have long been a major driver of their fiscal instability.

In 2022, a large increase in liability insurance cost for the Graniteville Fire District was the first indicator of a systemic budgetary crisis among local fire districts. Our investigation at that time showed skyrocketing premiums for local fire agencies.

Next, Rough&Ready Fire was on the brink of dissolution, and talks began between Penn Valley, Nevada County Consolidated and Rough&Ready to keep the lights on and the station staffed. In June of 2023, they explored reorganization into one district and asked the county for financial support to accomplish the consolidation. Supervisor Ed Scofield, the BOS Chair at the time, appointed Supervisors Sue Hoek and Lisa Swarthout to co-chair a Fire Services Ad hoc Committee. The Committee’s mission was to support the vision of the three fire districts consolidating as one district and ensuring a continuation of emergency response services for Rough & Ready’s residents in the meantime. In August of 2023, Supervisors approved $1 million over two years to support the reorganization of these districts into one and provide gap funding to operate Rough & Ready Fire Station No. 59 prior to consolidation.

The consolidation talks continued for the next two years, but ultimately Penn Valley and Rough & Ready will reorganize into one district. Meanwhile, Consolidated is considering a similar agreement with Ophir Hill Fire. At publication time, no agreement has been reached.