Redwood Coast Fire Protection District (Point Arena Area) The Redwood Coast Fire Protection District (District) is

The District is managed by a volunteer board, volunteer firefighters, and one salaried General Manager. Response (Redwood Coast Fire Protection District Board of Directors): The Board agrees with all findings (1 thru 13)

Measure P, passed by voters in June 1997 with a 67.2% majority, formed the District. Only registered voters in the District were allowed to vote. Absentee property owners were not eligible to vote.

Measure P imposed a tax of up to $85 per “benefit unit.”

At this time, property owners are taxed at $40 for each benefit unit. Benefit units are “based on the use or the right of use of each legal parcel, and to the extent practical, upon the costs of providing services associated with each parcel…” (Redwood Fire District, Ordinance No. 2000-01).

The parcels cannot be taxed according to the property values.

The District adopted the County Assessor’s use codes for identifying benefit use. The Assessor’s codes were intended for Assessor’s office internal use only. They were never intended to calculate taxes.

When assigning use codes, the District’s Board must adhere to the standards that were implemented by voters in Measure P.

Ordinance No. 2000-01 states: “Units of benefit, as listed herein, shall be assessed on all real property (except that of Federal, State or Government agencies) within the boundaries of the Redwood Coast Fire Protection District.”

There are 1509 assessor’s parcels and 620 pay no tax. Therefore, about 41% of all assessor’s parcels are not taxed.

The current method of District taxation of unimproved parcels is inequitable. Property with use codes “range lands,” “timber lands,” and “dry classified lands” are not taxed, while other unimproved parcels, such as “recreation residential” are taxed $120 to $160 per year.

Any change to the method of District taxation must be passed by 2/3 of the voters.

The Board approved a proposal to the voters dated May 1, 2001, to change the method of taxation, including the following: “The basic ground rules…are: (cid:3) Parcels with a total assessed value < $1000 are not taxed. (cid:3) All vacant parcels are assessed 1 unit regardless of size or zoning. [Note: Final version of the proposal changes vacant parcels to 1/2 unit each] (cid:1) Residential dwellings, in addition to the primary use, are assessed [an additional] 1/2 unit each…”

The Board does not have a written procedure for handling disputes regarding imposed taxes.