As measured by per capita spending, total expenditures on fire and emergency medical services in San Diego County are significantly less than the investments in fire protection made by the jurisdictions in either Orange County or Los Angeles County. Moreover, the gap between San Diego and these other Southern California counties has been growing wider over the past four years.
An examination of data derived from four years of state reports and municipal budgets shows that in FY 2007-2008, the 42 municipalities, fire districts and the County invested a total of $475 million for fire protection or $151 for each resident of San Diego County. This compares to a per capita investment of $173 in Orange County and $214 in Los Angeles. While San Diego County’s per-capita investment has increased $19 or 14.6% since FY 2004, Orange County has upped its per-capita investment by $34 and Los Angeles has increased its investment by $33 over those same four years.
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I am concerned. A close member of my family lost their home in the fires last October. Our emergency personnel are the best in the nation, and our elected officials did a good job of leading us through that disaster. Maybe it's time to increase taxes for more efficient fire protection for San Diego County. Our emergency personnel can't be expected to provide more protection without the proper support.
July 11, 2008 at 3:00 PM
Don Says:
I would be interested to know what percentage of the total San Diego government budget was spent on fire protection, and what is the tax base as a percentage of the region's GDP? Were we in line with other counties, or did they just happened to have more disposable funds. Are San Diego's other expenses the same as these other areas? Did we have to make hard choices to fund other priorities (i.e., broken infrastructure like water lines or emergency medical for undocumented aliens) the others didn't have to deal with?
July 12, 2008 at 10:39 AM
Rick Augustine Says:
Sad but something that no one is talking about is what happenned to Prop 172 funds. It was suppose to go to improve police and fire. The State now wants to tax us for firefighting, San Diego County is also preparing a fast one too. Just like the lottery money was to go for above and beyond the needs for schools, it now payes for the basics. Voters were told Prop. 172 would go to improve firefighting efforts. It hasn't. The new San Diego County tax will not insure improved firefighting abilities, because most of the money will go for existing needs versus improving the system. They ignore the LAFCO report too. Where will the city house the new fire trucks when they do not have the room? They do need to replace trucks, but their equipment replacement fund is too low. This tax measure does not required them to keep a reserve truck for every new truck any agencies may purchase. This is a proposition rush to look good during fire season and it will hurt us in the long run.
July 20, 2008 at 4:47 PM
Cynthia Says:
Heard from a City Firefighter, with all these 'new densities' just how much 'in deficit' out communities are from even being up to 'code requirements.' This is Alarming to say the least. That our 'response times' are "more than 8 minutes," everywhere in our community, and we pay the 2nd highest amount of taxes in the county! That they plan to densify & pack in more cars in a very busy and most difficult to get to area in the first place will not be good for the lives of anyone at risk here.
July 30, 2008 at 9:06 AM
Owl Says:
Arguably the 2007 fires would not have been as disatrous if more money had been allocated to fire prevention. San Diego County has been called a "welfare queen" because of our reliance on other counties to bail us out of disasters like the 2003 & 2007 wildfires.
August 13, 2008 at 2:36 PM
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I am concerned. A close member of my family lost their home in the fires last October. Our emergency personnel are the best in the nation, and our elected officials did a good job of leading us through that disaster. Maybe it's time to increase taxes for more efficient fire protection for San Diego County. Our emergency personnel can't be expected to provide more protection without the proper support.
I would be interested to know what percentage of the total San Diego government budget was spent on fire protection, and what is the tax base as a percentage of the region's GDP? Were we in line with other counties, or did they just happened to have more disposable funds. Are San Diego's other expenses the same as these other areas? Did we have to make hard choices to fund other priorities (i.e., broken infrastructure like water lines or emergency medical for undocumented aliens) the others didn't have to deal with?
Sad but something that no one is talking about is what happenned to Prop 172 funds. It was suppose to go to improve police and fire. The State now wants to tax us for firefighting, San Diego County is also preparing a fast one too. Just like the lottery money was to go for above and beyond the needs for schools, it now payes for the basics. Voters were told Prop. 172 would go to improve firefighting efforts. It hasn't. The new San Diego County tax will not insure improved firefighting abilities, because most of the money will go for existing needs versus improving the system. They ignore the LAFCO report too. Where will the city house the new fire trucks when they do not have the room? They do need to replace trucks, but their equipment replacement fund is too low. This tax measure does not required them to keep a reserve truck for every new truck any agencies may purchase. This is a proposition rush to look good during fire season and it will hurt us in the long run.
Heard from a City Firefighter, with all these 'new densities' just how much 'in deficit' out communities are from even being up to 'code requirements.' This is Alarming to say the least. That our 'response times' are "more than 8 minutes," everywhere in our community, and we pay the 2nd highest amount of taxes in the county! That they plan to densify & pack in more cars in a very busy and most difficult to get to area in the first place will not be good for the lives of anyone at risk here.
Arguably the 2007 fires would not have been as disatrous if more money had been allocated to fire prevention. San Diego County has been called a "welfare queen" because of our reliance on other counties to bail us out of disasters like the 2003 & 2007 wildfires.