Firefighters Are Overworked, County Needs More Trucks, County Wants Voters To Approve Small Tax
Written by 991KBU on December 4, 2019
L A County firefighters are overworked … stressed … committing suicide in record numbers … and there are not enough fire trucks.
And L A County’s fire department needs more money to get its job done.
That’s the word from county fire chief Daryl Osby … and he’s convinced the LA County board of Supervisors to ask for a tax increase.
Residents in Malibu will join voters from across L-A County to vote on a proposed parcel tax … to increase firefighting services.
The tax will be before voters on the March ballot.
Each property in unincorporated L-A County … Plus the cities that use LA County firefighters … would pay a six cents per square foot of development tax every year.
That would equal 60 dollars per one Thousand Square feet of house.
The parcel tax would raise 134 million dollars per year for the LA County fire department.
The department is chronically short-staffed … with many firefighters forced to work repeated overtime shifts in order to keep boots in the trucks.
Firefighters union members say the stress toll is overwhelming.
More firefighters have committed suicide then been killed in recent years.
And fire chief Osby says the department needs $1.4 billion just to replace upgrade equipment and technology.
Malibu area county supervisor Sheila Kuehl supports the tax … she calls it evidence-based and fact-based.
How would we’ll go over in Malibu … a city that many feel was abandoned by the fire department last year????
The fire chief says the problem last year was lack of mutual aid … and he says the days of expecting mutual aid from surrounding counties are over.
The tax increase needs two thirds of approval from the voters.
It will be on the march California primary election ballot.
