Authorize the Director of General Services, or the Director's designee, to sign, mark "yes," and submit the Clarksburg, Esparto, Springlake and Yolo Fire Protection Districts' Proposition 218 assessment ballots; and delegate authority for the Director to sign, mark "yes," and submit additional assessment ballots received in 2024-25 for County properties subject to proposed Fire Protection District assessments. (General fund impact $4,800) (Pistochini)

Fire Protection Districts may levy a special assessment on real property within the boundaries of their respective districts to fund fire protection and emergency response improvements and services that provide a special benefit to the assessed real property. (See Health & Saf. Code 13914, Gov. Code 50078, and Cal. Const., art. XIIID, sec. 4.)  Such special benefits assessments can only be imposed after complying with Proposition 218's assessment ballot proceeding and other requirements, including preparation of a detailed engineer's report supporting the proposed assessment and holding a notice public hearing.  Each ballot is weighted according to the amount of the proposed assessment to be levied on the property.  A simple-majority vote (50%+1) of all weighted ballots submitted is required to implement the assessment.  All parcels within the proposed special benefit district are subject to the assessment, and no exclusion is available for local government agencies, such as Yolo County, unless the local agency can demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that the assessed publicly-owned parcels receive no special benefit. (Cal. Const., art. XIIID, Sec. 4(a).) 

At this time, the County has received assessment ballots from Clarksburg, Esparto, and Yolo Fire Protection Districts.  The ballot for Springlake Fire Protection Districts will be mailed to the County shortly.  Winters Fire Protection District is also conducting an assessment ballot proceeding, but the County currently does not own any parcels within the Winters FPD; however, the Winters FPD ballot notice is provided here for reference (see Attachment 8).  The Director of General Services is requesting that the Board delegate the authority to the Director to vote "yes" in favor of the aforementioned assessments if time does not allow returning to the Board prior to the ballot submission deadline.  The Board of Supervisors must decide whether to take action on the ballot and provide authority to staff on how to vote and who may submit the ballot on behalf of the County for County-owned parcels.  The options are to vote "yes" in favor of imposing the parcel assessment, "no" in opposition of imposing the assessment, or abstain from voting.

Staff recommend that the Board support a "yes" vote on the assessment ballots as a more robust and capable fire protection district will better safeguard County employees and assets.  Further details regarding the assessment and the special benefits that will be conferred on the County-owned properties are described in each of the engineer's reports prepared by SCI Consulting (for Esparto, Springlake, and Yolo) and by DCC Engineering (for Clarksburg) (available on the County's website here under the heading, "Fire Protection & Emergency Response Assessments"). If passed, the assessments will continue in perpetuity unless and until the respective First District Board of Commissioners determines that the assessments are no longer necessary.  

Clarksburg Fire Protection District
The Clarksburg Fire Protection District is conducting special benefit assessment proceeding with a public hearing scheduled on June 10, 2025.  This assessment will allow the District to improve fire protection services in the district.  The County owns two parcels that are subject to the proposed assessment.  The County is expected to incur a new obligation of $233.19 per year if this measure passes. This assessment may increase annually with CPI adjustments up to 5% annually, not to exceed 15% over a five-year period. (See Attachments 1 and 2.)

Esparto Fire Protection District
The Esparto Fire Protection District is conducting special benefit assessment proceeding with a public hearing scheduled on July 10, 2025.  This assessment will allow the District to improve fire protection services in the district by funding staffing to maintain a two-person engine 24/7, 365 days a year and also to purchase new equipment to replace outdated equipment.  The County owns 23 parcels that are subject to the proposed assessment.  The County is expected to incur a new obligation of $2,677.06 per year if this measure passes. This obligation may increase annually with CPI adjustments up to 3% annually beginning Fiscal Year 2029-2030, but will not increase after Fiscal Year 2034-2035.  (See Attachments 3 and 4.)

Yolo Fire Protection District
The Yolo Fire Protection District is conducting a special benefit assessment proceeding with a public hearing scheduled on July 7, 2025.  This assessment will allow the District to improve fire protection services in the district, including providing staffing of one firefighter daily between 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM.  The County owns two parcels that are subject to the proposed assessment.  The County is expected to incur a new obligation of $1,064.09 per year if this measure passes.  This assessment may increase annually with CPI adjustments up to 3% annually beginning Fiscal Year 2031-2032.  (See Attachments 5 and 6.)

Springlake Fire Protection District
The Springlake Fire Protection District is conducting special benefit assessment proceeding with a public hearing scheduled on July 22, 2025.  This assessment will allow the District to improve fire protection services in the district.  The County owns 13 parcels that are subject to the proposed assessment.  The County is expected to incur a new obligation of $821.06 per year if this assessment passes.  This assessment may increase annually with CPI adjustments up to 3% annually beginning Fiscal Year 2031-2032. The official ballot has not yet been received, but the ballot notice is included as Attachment 7.

These proposed assessments are the result of the Board’s August 31, 2021 action to allocate $300,000 of cannabis tax revenues for the purpose of contracting with a consultant to prepare engineers’ reports and initiate Proposition 218 elections (for Districts willing to participate) for all 15 rural fire protection districts/entities.  On March 12, 2024, the Board of Supervisors approved the first amendment to Agreement No. 1546 with SCI, Inc. This increases the maximum compensation for Prop 218: Planning, Assessment Engineering, Balloting, and Community Outreach to $344,527. The agreement term was also extended through June 30, 2025.  On November 12, 2024, the Board approved a reduction of $21,254 to the SCI, Inc. contract for a total maximum of $332,773 (includes a separate task for Ekhorn FPD Cost-of-Service Study).  In addition, approved Clarksburg FPD request to use the remaining funds of $21,254 to conduct the election, outreach, collateral materials, etc. with their consultant, DCC Engineering Co., Inc. As of today, eight Fire Protection Districts have completed a Prop 218 election, five of which were successful, and three of which were not. Direct service Fire Protection Districts that successfully pass new Proposition 218 assessments are eligible for County matching funds per the Board’s April 18, 2023, action to set aside $1.5M in general fund revenues for rural fire protection sustainability.

The General Services Department collaborated with the County Counsel's Office, County Administrator's Office, and Department of Financial Services in developing this recommendation.