Greenfield Fire Protection District Parcel Tax, Measure U (August 2015)

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Measure info Amount: $73/unit Expires: Never

A parcel tax measure was on the ballot for Greenfield Fire Protection District voters in Monterey County, California, on August 25, 2015. It was defeated.

If approved, Measure U would have authorized the district to impose an annual parcel tax—a kind of property tax based on units of property rather than assessed value—of $73 per unit for an indefinite period of time. The tax measure was designed to allow annual cost-of-living adjustments to be made to the tax rate after 2015.

A two-thirds (66.67%) vote was required for the approval of this measure.

Election results

Greenfield Fire District, Measure U
Result		Votes	Percentage
a Yes		381	62.36%
No		230	37.64%

Election results from Monterey County Elections Office

Text of measure

Ballot question

The following question appeared on the ballot:

“

To fund emergency medical services for quicker responses to heart attacks, vehicle accidents, and other emergencies, recruit and retain qualified personnel to provide necessary responsiveness to protect our homes and businesses from fire and other disasters, and plan for the District’s long term fiscal well-being, shall an annual special tax be authorized at a base rate of $73.00 per tax unit with a cost-of-living adjustment, and all revenue staying in our local community?

”

Impartial analysis

The following impartial analysis of Measure U was prepared by the office of the county counsel:

“	The Board of Directors of the Greenfield Fire Protection District (the "District") has ordered an election to submit to the voters of the District a measure to authorize the District to impose a special local real property parcel tax on real property within the District. The tax rate would be in the amount of $73.00 for the first dwelling unit and $58.40 for each additional dwelling unit on residential property, $36.50 for each unimproved lot (vacant/parking), $50.37 for agricultural/open space property, and $0.05 per square foot of building area for commercial/industrial/office/recreational property within the District. The tax revenue would be collected by the Monterey County Tax Collector pursuant to the assessed real property roll in addition to and in the same manner as ad valorem taxes to be remitted to the District. A "yes" vote is a vote to authorize the special local real property parcel tax on real property. A "no" vote is a vote against the tax. Pursuant to Section 4 of Article XIIIA and Sections 1 and 2d of Article XIIIC of the California Constitution, the tax shall become effective upon the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of those voters voting on the tax. Resolution No 2015-08 adopted by the District provides that the proceeds from the special real property parcel tax may be used for the purpose of supporting and providing fire protection, prevention, rescue and emergency medical services within the District, for any responses outside of the District under automatic/mutual aid agreements with other fire protection or emergency services agencies, and for any incidental expenses related to the collection of the tax. If the tax measure passes, the local real property parcel tax within the district's boundaries (the Greenfield Fire Protection District) shall be increased by the amount of $73.00 for the first dwelling unit and $58.40 for each additional dwelling unit on residential property, $36.50 for each unimproved lot (vacant/parking), $50.37 for agricultural/open space property, and $0.05 per square foot of building area for commercial/industrial/office/recreational property within the District for a continuous and indefinite period until repealed by the District Board or by the voters. The District shall develop an expenditure plan annually, to be annually approved and adopted by the District Board. A citizens oversight committee appointed by the District Board will review and report on the expenditures. (Government Code section 50075, et seq.) (quote)	”
—Monterey County Counsel Charles J. McKee

Support

The following is an excerpt of a statement that was posted on the Greenfield city website on a page called "Passing Measure U:"

“	The Fire District would like to continue their emergency medical response time averaging 5-8 minutes to provide the high level of care that our community has come to expect. In order to do that, they need to maintain their staffing levels. If they are forced to reduce staff on nights and weekends, any volunteers that are available will have to wait until there are at least 2 firefighters to respond to a call! The Fire District has the LOWEST PER CAPITA FUNDING OF Fire District in Monterey County. New funding created locally would be controlled ....locally ...by our responsible and accessible Fire Board of Directors. In order to secure this funding, our Fire Fighters need 2/3 Voter Approval.	”
—Greenfield City Government

Opposition

If you have an argument you would like to see posted here, please contact the local ballot measures staff writer.

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Greenfield Fire District parcel tax. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Greenfield Fire Protection District Parcel Tax, Measure U (August 2015) - Google News

See also

• Parcel tax
• Parcel tax elections in California
• California parcel tax on the ballot
• Monterey County, California ballot measures
• August 25, 2015 ballot measures in California

External links

Suggest a link

• Monterey County Elections Office website