The Fire Next Time....

Just a heads up.....

Uncle Jerry is proposing a $150 tax on properties lost in the woods....actually, those in the State Responsibility Areas.....properties where CalFire is the ultimate protector and responder to wildfires.

Seems reasonable.....

You have to sympathize with Uncle Jerry....trying to sneak revenue increases past the Republicans while trying to sneak service cuts past everyone else.....all in the name of balancing the budget.

But....take a moment to review the current map of the SRA....here.

Everything is in the SRA.

All of Pebble Beach. All of Carmel Valley and Cachagua.

A tiny strip along Carmel Valley Road is allowed to the locals.....but everything within a few meters of the road is in the SRA.

Right now we already pay $100 or more dollars levied on our parcel tax to Cachagua Fire.....our Fire Protection District. I am willing to bet that parcel holders in Carmel Valley pay a similar tax to firefighters in the Village or Mid-Valley. Believe it or not, my Health Department permit for Cachagua pays forty or fifty bucks for ambulance service in Seaside!

As someone who lives 300 meters from a CalFire station.....which is awesomely captained by the daughter of a dear friend.....I have no problems paying my fair share. But what happens to Cachagua Fire?

In the last fire, whose T-shirt I am wearing as I type......Cachagua Fire got completely dissed and buried by warring bureaucracies. The folks with the local experience and knowledge and expertise were at various times actually banned from access to their own areas of responsibility.

Plus, the way the bill is written.....the levy is based upon the number of structures on a given parcel. We have three.....so my fire protection bill goes from $100 to $550. My landlord's fire protection bill goes from $100 to more than $6,000. And, it would appear that we have less say about allocation of resources before, during and after a fire event.

I am not a completely happy camper here......

More clarification anon......after a word or two with John Laird and Bill Monning.