Solano County Board of Supervisors Take on Governance of Three Rural Fire Protection Districts
The Solano County Board of Supervisors took a major step this week toward ensuring the long-term sustainability of rural fire protection by unanimously voting to take over governance of the Vacaville, Suisun and Montezuma Fire Protection Districts.
This is the foundation for a possible consolidation of the three fire districts sometime in the future. The reality is that the portion of property tax that each of the rural fire districts receives is not enough to keep up with the rising costs of providing fire protection.
There have been calls to reorganize rural fire districts in Solano County for greater efficiency, shared resources and standardized training. And over the years, we have seen some consolidation already occur. Valley was annexed into the Suisun Fire Protection District in 1976, Elmira was annexed into the Vacaville Fire Protection District in 1986 and Ryer Island was annexed into the Montezuma Fire Protection District in 2007.
The Solano County Civil Grand Jury has looked at different aspects of rural fire protection over the years. The Grand Jury has also urged the County to do more to support the fire districts, with a goal being the formation of a countywide fire district. In a 2021 report, the Grand Jury wrote, “Solano County has not accepted responsibility for protecting outlying areas from the yearly fires. Without active intervention by the county, addressing fire issues has been glacially and tragically slow.”
While Solano County and the Board of Supervisors are not responsible for fire protection, I believe we do have a duty to our rural residents and understand that when disaster strikes, it is the County that residents will look to for relief. This reorganization of the fire districts governance places those that are directly voted into office in a position to represent you on matters of rural fire protection. With the Board of Supervisors now in positions of leadership at the Vacaville, Suisun and Montezuma Fire Districts, County staff can work with the Local Agency Formation Commission on an application to consolidate. However, there is still a lot of work that must be done before that happens, including a fiscal analysis and analysis of proposed staffing models. Any future proposals and discussions will come before the Solano County Board of Supervisors in open meetings for consideration and public input.
What is important to note is that your rural fire protection district is the same today as it was before the Board of Supervisors assumed responsibility for their governance. We can all be proud of the service our rural fire districts have provided us in the past and will continue to provide into the future.
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Since 2003, Supervisor John M. Vasquez has had the privilege to represent the 4th Supervisorial District covering Northern Solano County. The district includes portions of Vacaville and Dixon. He can be reached at (707) 784-6129 or JMVasquez@SolanoCounty.com. |
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