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| Written by PI Web | |
| Saturday, 13 October 2007 | |
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Fire departments left out of Prop. 172 money
EDITOR, A half-cent sales tax was enacted in 1994 to help alleviate the effect of the state’s money grab of property taxes from local governments and districts following the 1993-94 state budget problems. Advertisements to get the public to pass Proposition 172 regularly depicted fire departments rescuing people and putting out fires. It is obvious that law enforcement and fire services are the primary entities that provide safety to the general public, and both should benefit from Proposition 172. Many newspaper articles in Stanislaus County have depicted the dismal financial situation facing most fire districts. The state took tax money from fire districts and counties and gave it to schools to cope with a budget fiasco. In return, the public passed a proposition to help alleviate the financial hit taken by local governments, including fire districts. Proposition 172 funds are distributed from the state to the counties. In turn, the counties are to disburse them to public safety agencies within their jurisdiction that are impacted by the state’s appropriation of property taxes. According to the state controller’s office, Stanislaus County has received more than $72 million in Proposition 172 funds in the past two years. To date, none of that money has gone to any fire district. The present county budget gives the sheriff’s department $25 million, the district attorney’s office $5 million and the probation department $7.9 million. Fire districts get nothing. It’s obvious to me that country supervisors feel fire districts are not part of the public safety program. They complain and comment about the financial problems faced by fire districts, but when it comes time to share public safety funds with all public safety providers, they refuse. I’m sure most of the general public is not aware of what is happening, and hopefully this will help create the public pressure necessary to correct this obvious misdirection of funds. All county supervisors received e-mails about my concerns, and only Supervisor Jim DeMartini has contacted me, so I want to thank him publicly. Steve Pedrazzi, Crows Landing West Stanislaus Fire Protection District board member Building West Park is the responsible thing to do EDITOR, The concept of the proposed PCCP West Park industrial park is great. Thousands of people are driving hundreds of miles every day to get to work. We need this business park desperately for our children to have something to look forward to after attending college. We also need this development to fill the homes that are foreclosing at a rapid rate because of a lack of employment in this area. We purchased our home 6½ years ago. We were unable to find any vacant homes at that time. Now, on almost every block there are homes for sale or left abandoned with neglected and unattractive yards — a far cry from the way they were when we moved in. It was unfathomable to see home prices rise as fast as they did, with no decent employment available nearby. My pet peeve is the hundreds of miles driven by thousands every day. Our ozone is diminishing. Doesn’t anyone care? West Park isn’t the entire solution, but it’s a start. Interstate 5 is well on its way to becoming the next Highway 101. We must expand. Our town has growing pains. There is no form of mass transit, and all of these homes were built. We have to do something. Building West Park is the responsible thing to do. Susan M. Reyburn, Patterson
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