Amador County – Amador Fire Protection District voted 3-2 Tuesday to recommend to the Amador County Board of Supervisors to remove Proposition 172 funding from Amador Fire Protection Association, to fund the “Amador Plan” contract with Cal-Fire, to operate the Pine Grove Mount Zion Cal-Fire station through winter, and also to fund the county emergency dispatching contract with Camino.

Supervisor Chairman John Plasse said the $453,000 would include $247,000 to CDF, and $206,000 to Camino. Plasse voted against the recommendation by the AFPD board, along with Supervisor Vice Chairman Louis Boitano.

Plasse said he would rather try to supplement the Amador Plan by paying staffing for CDF, or hiring personnel, to possibly have more than one Cal-Fire staffed station operated in the non-fire season. He said CDF can staff two stations with one officer each, but an engine cannot make a mutual aid call without two officers on duty. He said taking the $247,000 to supplement staffing with CDF could help keep two stations open.

Plasse said the funding is from Proposition 172, a state-wide ½-cent sales tax measure for public safety, which came about to replace funds taken from county general funds for schools. He said County Administrative Officer Chuck Iley found a way to balance the budget by taking the Prop 172 General Fund money from the Amador Fire Protection Authority, which disburses the funds in the same way it puts out Measure M funds. But he said the two are different funds.

Plasse said 172 funds are “earmarked” for fire or emergency services, and Amador County at some point began to split those between fire and police services. The funds go to AFPA, which was formed to pass Measure M, a county sales tax to fund firefighters. He said the Prop 172 money is from the General Fund, but goes through AFPA and is distributed to all of the fire brigades around the county.

He said those fire departments are subsidized by the county General Fund 172 money, and the departments have been asked to consolidate, but most have chosen not to. Plasse said individual fire departments could benefit from consolidation by sharing administration, and having fewer chiefs and more firefighters.

Supervisor Ted Novelli said last week that the goal was consolidation. He said Prop 172 funds are different from Measure M funds. 172 funds are allocated to public safety, jails, police, and law enforcement.

Novelli said there is a concern that the county should contribute local 172 money for local entities, not the state. But he said the CDF contract benefits the county with mutual aid, between November and May dispatching helps county-wide.

Story by Jim Reece. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.