Ripon’s lack of funding for its fire district, which covers 22 square miles of the city and surrounding area, is not really a burning issue.
It really is a matter of life and death.
Calls to the Ripon Consolidated Fire District (RCFD) are similar to those of a typical fire department. Nearly 90 percent of all calls are for medical emergencies, many of which are traffic accidents, home accidents, or workplace accidents.
Even if the RCFD manages to keep a fire truck and ambulance on duty 24/7, the impact of last week’s failed property tax will most likely be severe.
The reason is simple.
The Manteca City Council is coming under increasing pressure to terminate the automatic response agreement, which dispatches the nearest available fire truck in Ripon or Manteca to an emergency call in either jurisdiction.
There are three reasons.
It has now become a one-way street that makes Manteca taxpayers the de facto payers for Ripon’s fire/emergency services.
Manteca is asking residents on Nov. 5 to approve a ¾-cent sales tax increase. A key item is hiring nine firefighters and building a sixth fire station in the fast-growing southwest part of town, where nearly 2,500 residents live outside Manteca’s five-minute response time.
The number of fire companies funded by Manteca taxpayers will be significantly reduced from five to four, as at least one of those companies will be located in Ripon.
Chances are the Manteca City Council will end automatic aid in the next month or so. Mutual aid would then remain in place.
This means that when Ripon needs a fire truck, one is not automatically sent from Manteca.
Instead, Manteca is asked to send a fire truck.
Any approval would extend the response time.
It may take a minute, less or more.
In a medical emergency, time is of the essence to achieve the best possible outcome.
It is highly unlikely that Manteca will stop mutual aid, even if Manteca ends up making more runs to Ripon than it currently does.
Because if the city proceeds in this way, it could create major rifts that could spread even further and undermine the important structure of mutual aid that helps when a community is temporarily overwhelmed.
What is likely to happen is that the Manteca Fire Department – which has a fiduciary responsibility to the taxpayers and residents of Manteca first and foremost – may conclude that it would be best for them not to put a part of the city they are supposed to protect at risk of too long an emergency response time and instead send a fire department that is no closer to Ripon.
Regardless, Ripon now finds itself in a position where any tax action under state law cannot be pursued until 2026.
The reason for this is that tax measures can only appear on the general election ballot – that is, the primary election in March and the general election in November.
The voting window for the elections on November 5 this year is closed.
So the question is, what should Ripon do?
The answer is: follow the example of the city of Lathrop.
They started down the same path 12 years ago that Ripon is on today. They are served by a fire district, just like Ripon.
Lathrop city leaders didn’t say it wasn’t our problem.
They also realized that a property tax in itself would not meet the needs of a growing city.
Therefore, they decided to raise taxes by one cent and allocate a fixed percentage of it to fund the services of the Lathrop Manteca Fire District within the city limits of Lathrop.
None of the manpower or support goes to the two rural stations staffed by the fire district, one on Union Road south of Manteca and the other on Austin Road northeast of Manteca.
Instead, it supports the 24-hour staffing and equipment of three fire stations that serve the city’s residents.
The beauty of sales tax is fourfold.
It is paid by all residents of the municipality when they make taxable purchases in shops, restaurants and petrol stations.
It is paid by non-urban residents, including those living in rural Ripon within the fire district, when they shop in Ripon.
It is paid by travelers – think truck drivers – as well as visitors to events at Mistlin Sports Park when they purchase taxable items, whether at a restaurant or a gas station.
It does not target a specific group of taxpayers, such as a property tax that applies only to property owners.
Nobody likes taxes.
However, most of them like much of what they have to offer.
Finding a solution – at least for the 16,000 residents of the City of Ripon they were elected to represent – should be a top priority for Ripon City Council.
What solutions are available to the city?
They could wait until 2026 and support a fire district’s attempt to pass a property tax increase after failing to do so in 2007, 2018, and now 2024.
They could cut benefits to give some money to the fire district to improve protection within the city.
They could urge the district to explore the possibility of outsourcing its ambulance service to another agency — American Medical Response or Manteca District Ambulance — if doing so would improve the RCFD’s capacity to staff fire trucks.
They could try to float options like consolidation talks, since such a move can result in cost savings. However, it’s doubtful Manteca – or any other nearby fire department – would give such an option much consideration if it isn’t beneficial to both communities and doesn’t involve everyone paying their fair share.
They could consider setting up their own fire department, which could easily cost more than a one cent increase in VAT would bring in.
What is unacceptable is that the Jewel of the Valley essentially relies on the City of Manteca to regularly ensure the safety of Ripon residents, while there is little to no neighborly assistance in the form of dispatching fire trucks.
Simply hiding behind the bottom line that this is a fire district problem and not a city problem does not work.
This column is the opinion of editor Dennis Wyatt and does not necessarily reflect the views of The Bulletin or 209 Multimedia. He can be reached at [email protected]
