Council again says the city pays too much for fire protection

A discussion with the fire department about fire station locations last week became heated when City Council members demanded equity for county taxes paid versus services rendered.

"I want to make absolutely certain that there's no misunderstanding that any comments I have or any sentiments expressed in any way question the quality of service that residents receive from the Ventura County Fire Protection District," said Council-member Dennis Gillette. "The firefighters are absolute professionals and provide a tremendous service to us."

The discussion ignited when Gillette questioned why $5.8 million to $6.2 million per year is leaving the city in taxes and going to Ventura County. It's not, he said, being returned in service.

"I've not heard any dispute of that number," Gillette said.

Even if the fire department adopted every enhancement it could, the amount being paid by residents of Thousand Oaks is excessive for the city's taxpayers, he said.

The council indicated that the Ventura County supervisors are, for political reasons, ignoring the city's requests for fiancial equity.

"Quite frankly—$6 million this year, $6 million last year, $6 million the year before, $6 million next year—we said at the time, pretty soon you're talking about real money," Gillette said.

Councilmember Andy Fox said he could live with a $1million overcharge, but $6 million wasn't acceptable.

"Who's paying for the fire stations at upper Ojai and those areas around Ventura County that don't have sufficient tax base? The taxpayers of the city of Thousand Oaks are paying for it, and I question the equity of that," Gillette said.

What set off the sparks at the March 10 City Council meeting was the refusal of the county to relocate the fire station in Lake Sherwood to Westlake Village.

"We're finding that response times are good. On the mark. From the service perspective, doing very well in Westlake area— good response times, good work when we arrive," said Ventura County Fire Department Chief Michael LaPlant.

LaPlant asked the city to evaluate the fire department service by response times not fire station locations. He also said he thought the estimate of $6 million a year in overpayment of taxes, a figure provided to the city by a consultant, was high. He said he would estimate it at $1 million to $1.4 million.

"Data provided for that report was provided by fire district personnel. It's their figures," City Manager Scott Mitnick said. "With respect to the validity of the data, the data is the data that they provided."

The problem may be greater than the report indicated.

"The consultants and the city staff felt that the actual subsidy is higher than the figures used in the report," Mitnick said. "The consultants erred on the side of caution and used a lower figure."

After receiving figures exposing Thousand Oaks as a donor city—one that donates taxes so other cities can have services they don't pay for—the council asked city staff to send a letter to open discussions with the county on the need for equity. Assistant City Manager Linda Pappas Díaz said the letter sent six months ago got a cold reply.

"We got a letter back that said they're not willing to discuss this at this time," Pappas Díaz said.

"Well, we're interested. I have a feeling our taxpayers are interested." Gillette said.

Gillette suggested contacting the Ventura County grand jury as an objective third party and asking for a full forensic audit that would look at the exact amount of taxes going out compared to services coming in.

"This thing stinks of politics," Gillette said.

Fox asked how a full forensic audit of the fire district would be different from the consultants' report? He suggested getting citizens engaged in the issue by holding community discussions.

This isn't the first time Thousand Oaks has had disagreements with the county. The city began its own library services and went to Los Angeles County for animal control needs, Gillette recalled.

Gillette said he doesn't think it's Thousand Oaks' responsibility to pay for fire coverage for other areas.

"You can imagine our extreme frustration," Councilmember Jacqui Irwin said.

Getting back to the topic that began the firestorm, Irwin said a new fire station in the Westlake Village area would lower response time by two or three minutes.

If the fire department wants to keep the station in Lake Sherwood—built in the 1950s— with its low population, it can do that, Irwin said, but it should still build another station to serve the larger population in Westlake Village.

Westlake Village response time is within the five-minute standard by just one second, Fox said.

LaPlant wants the fire department to be evaluated on how fast they respond, how they get to where they're going and how well they do when they get there. Percentage of call volume should also be looked at, he said.

Thousand Oaks is the source of about 27 percent of the total calls the Ventura County Fire Department receives, LaPlant said.

About 78 percent of the fire district's budget comes from property taxes. The formula to tax Thousand Oaks is the same used throughout the fire district.

"The data is absolutely clear to me that the fire station needs to be moved easterly to the Potrero location," said Councilmember Claudia Bill-de la Peña.

That way the fire station will be serving the greatest number of constituents, she said.

From a liability exposure standpoint, the residents of Westlake Village are exposed and they deserve better, Mitnick said.

"It's unconscionable that we do nothing," he said.

Mitnick pointed out the city has several options, including detachment from the county to have its own fire department, as is the case with most cities with more than 100,000 residents.

Joining with Moorpark and Simi Valley to form an East County fire department is another option, and joining with Los Angeles County is a third possibility.

One thing the city can't do "in good conscience" is "let another year go by and watch another $6 million go out," Gillette said.

"This city is very serious about this exercise, and we're not going away," Fox said.