Background

In December 2004, the San Carlos City Council began studying options to provide Fire Department Services in San Carlos. In July, 2006 the City Council decided to continue to receive Fire Department services from the Belmont-San Carlos Fire Department (formerly known as South County Fire Authority) and to bring a Proposed Fire Assessment revenue measure to property owners in San Carlos.

Amounts of the Proposed Fire Assessment in San Carlos

As described in detail below, if the Proposed Fire Assessment in San Carlos is approved by Property Owners and the City Council, each property owner would pay an annual Fire Assessment. This annual assessment would be based on the type of property you own and the number of parcels or units that you own. Here is a table showing the assessment categories, type of assessment (by parcel or by unit) and amount of annual assessment per category:

Assessment Category	Measurement	Annual Cost Per Unit or Parcel
Residential (1 and 2 Family Dwellings)	Unit	$99.00
Residential (3 or More Living Units)	Unit	$62.40
Commercial (Stores and Offices)	Parcel	$322.32
Industry & Utility	Parcel	$249.22
Institutional (Hotels/Public Assembly/Educational)	Parcel	$243.03
Storage In Structures	Parcel	$125.48
Vacant Land	Parcel	$55.74

Items Funded by the Proposed Fire Assessment

The proposed Fire Assessment would fund costs involved in the continuation of the Belmont-San Carlos Fire Department (formerly known as South County Fire Authority) including a Cross Staffed Fire Truck Company, Retiree Medical Costs, Replacement Funds for 4 Fire Engines, Building Replacement Fund, 10% Operating Reserve Fund, Light Vehicle Replacement Fund and a portion ($150,181 per year) of the JPA Revenue Adjustment (the difference between the current 50% Belmont, 50% San Carlos cost sharing formula for the Fire Department JPA and the new 53% San Carlos, 47% Belmont cost sharing formula for the Fire Department JPA if the Proposed Fire Assessment measure passes in both San Carlos and Belmont). The proceeds from the proposed Fire Assessment in San Carlos would be distributed as follows:

Details of Proposed Fire Assessment and Key Dates

The San Carlos City Council approved resolutions that started the process for a proposed Fire Assessment at their meeting of July 24, 2006. The proposed Fire Assessment would be in the amount of $1.268 Million per year ($1.206 Million in net proceeds, $1.268 Million including all costs) for a period of 15 years.

A Fire Services Assessment is levied on property owners in a community; in this case the property owners of the City of San Carlos for eligible Fire Suppression service costs. The amount of the assessment is based on the amount of revenue the City desires to raise each year, the number of parcels in each land use category and the relative “special benefit” that each property type would receive. This calculation is done by an Assessment Engineer. In recent years, the cities of Pacifica and Millbrae have proposed and adopted Fire Services Assessment measures using this process.

Once the amount of the assessment has been calculated and approved by the Governing Body, the City Council then adopts a resolution of intent (approved at the July 24th City Council Meeting) to bring the question of the proposed assessment to the property owners. This is done through a mail ballot (scheduled to be mailed on September 28, 2006) and a protest hearing process (scheduled for the November 13, 2006 City Council Meeting), much as San Carlos has done in the past through projects such as the Pulgas Creek Drainage Improvement project, two Downtown Beautification Projects and the recent Industrial Road Improvement Project.

In the ballot and protest hearing process, property owners receive ballots and can cast votes that are weighted in the amount of the proposed assessment (i.e. the higher the potential assessment amount, the more votes the property owner is given). After the date of the protest vote hearing, the City Clerk will work with Muni Financial Services to tally the votes. If there is a majority vote in favor of the assessment proceeding, it moves to Step 2 in the process. If there is a majority opposed to the proposed assessment, it fails at that point.

In Step 2 of the process, the governing body (in this case the San Carlos City Council) must also vote to hand bill the property owners for the amount of the assessment (year 1) and then place the assessment on the property tax rolls (years 2 through 15). The hand billing in this proposed assessment is due to the timing of the proposed measure which would be potentially adopted after the property tax billing deadline for 2006-07. A copy of the Final Engineer's Report and Fire Assessment Process from Muni Financial Services is linked below.

Key Dates - Proposed Fire Assessment Calendar

• San Carlos City Council Adopts Resolution of Intent – July 24, 2006
• Belmont Fire Protection District Board Adopts Resolution of Intent – July 25, 2006
• Community Outreach Begins – July 26, 2006
• Assessment Ballots Mailed – September 28, 2006
• San Carlos Assessment District Protest Hearing – November 13, 2006
• Belmont Assessment District Protest Hearing – November 14, 2006
• San Carlos Adopts Resolution Authorizing Assessment (if measure passes) – November 27, 2006
• Belmont Adopts Resolution Authorizing Assessment (if measure passes) – November 28, 2006
• Hand Bills Mailed Out to Affected Property Owners (if measure passes) – December 1, 2006
• Effective Funding Date (Fire Department JPA costs change from 50% Belmont, 50% San Carlos to 53% San Carlos, 47% Belmont if measure passes in both cities) – December 31, 2006

Reports from Muni Financial Services on Proposed Fire Services Assessment - August 2006

• Final Engineer's Report - Proposed San Carlos Fire Assessment District (August 24, 2006) (PDF or FlashPaper , 203K)
• Timeline - Proposed San Carlos Fire Assessment District (August 7, 2006) (PDF or FlashPaper , 77K)

Reports to City Council on Proposed Fire Assessment in San Carlos

During the months of June and July, the Proposed Fire Assessment was discussed at three City Council Meetings (June 12, 2006, July 10, 2006 and July 24, 2006). A copy of the Council Staff Reports, Powerpoint presentations, Excel Spreadsheets and related materials from those meetings is provided below. Also shown below are video clips from these meetings for your information and review.

City Council and Redevelopment Agency Staff Reports - Proposed Fire Assessment

• Proposed Fire Assessment - Results of Balloting and Results of Property Owner Protest Proceeding (November 27, 2006)
• News Release - Results of Balloting - Proposed Fire Assessment in San Carlos (November 15, 2006)
• News Release from Belmont - Belmont Fire Protection District Assessment Ballot Fails (November 15, 2006)
• City Council Staff - Public Hearing on Proposed Fire Assessment Balloting, Close Balloting and Authorize Counting of the Ballots (November 13, 2006)
• City Council Staff Report - Consider Authorizing Mayor to Cast Ballots of City Owned Property in Proposed Fire Assessment Balloting (October 23, 2006)
• Redevelopment Agency Board Staff Report - Consider Authorizing RDA Board Chair to Cast Ballots of City Owned Property in Proposed Fire Assessment Balloting (October 23, 2006)
• City Council Staff Report - Consider Resolutions for Proposed Fire Assessment (July 24, 2006)
• City Council Staff Report - Report on Proposed Fire Suppression Assessment (July 10, 2006)
• City Council Staff Report - Report on Proposed Fire Assessment and 10 Year Budget Model (June 12, 2006)
• City Council Powerpoint Presentation - Report on Proposed Fire Services Assessment and 10 Year Budget Model (June 12, 2006) (PDF or FlashPaper , 293K)

Videos - City Council Meetings - Proposed Fire Assessment

• Conduct Public Hearing for Fire Assessment, Close Ballot Process at End of Hearing and Authorize Counting of Ballots - Brian Moura, Assistant City Manager (November 13, 2006) 41 minutes 7 seconds
• Consider Authorizing Mayor to Cast Ballots of City Owned Property in Proposed Fire Assessment Balloting - Brian Moura, Assistant City Manager (October 23, 2006) 6 mins 38 secs
• Consider Authorizing RDA Board Chair to Cast Ballots of City Owned Property in Proposed Fire Assessment Balloting - Brian Moura, Assistant City Manager (October 23, 2006) 41 secs
• City Council Endorsement of Proposed Fire Services Assessment - Mark Weiss, City Manager (September 25, 2006) 4 mins 45 secs
• Report on Proposed Fire Services Assessment - Brian Moura, Assistant City Manager (July 24, 2006) 32 mins 31 secs
• Report on Proposed Fire Services Assessment - Brian Moura, Assistant City Manager (July 10, 2006) 1 hour 18 min 13 secs
• Report on Proposed Fire Services Assessment - Brian Moura, Assistant City Manager (June 12, 2006) 21 min 41 secs

Fire Services In San Carlos

The materials shown above were taken from a series of City Council Meetings on Fire Services in San Carlos held during 2004, 2005 and 2006. Links to all of these meetings, which include all of the Council Staff Reports, Presentations and Materials, are available in the Fire Services in San Carlos section of the City Web Site. Click on the link below to view this information.

• Fire Service Options for San Carlos