The East Contra Costa Fire Protection District has been warning the public for more than 5-years that if fire stations shutter, insurance rates will skyrocket. That warning may now become a reality.
The District had hoped to raise more than $4.2 million in additional revenue to re-open the downtown Brentwood fire station and keep the Knightsen fire station in operation through a Benefit Assessment of roughly $100 per parcel for 5-years. On Monday, the ECCFPD learned the Benefit Assessment was rejected by the public after 53.04% rejected the idea.
On Thursday, ECCFPD Fire Chief Hugh Henderson confirmed that less than 48-hours after the Benefit Assessment failed, he was contacted by the Insurance Services Office, Inc. (ISO) who advised they would be re-evaluating the Districts ISO Rating.
The ISO (Insurance Services Office, Inc.) is the leading supplier of statistical, actuarial, and underwriting information for and about the property/casualty insurance industry. The ISO fire insurance ratings for a community are the foundation on which most insurers build their coverage programs.
Chief Henderson stated he was informed that areas outside of five-road miles of the remaining three stations would be re-classified as Class 10—meaning no fire service. That would result in increased insurance rates.
“What we’ve seen in the Morgan Territory Road and Bethel island area is rates have increased 3 to 4 times higher. It is my understanding that some of the property owners fire insurance is $3,500 the year,” said Henderson.
With a three-station model, residents in the District will be impacted after the ISO update is complete.
While the District has not formally decided which three stations will remain open, there is a push by some to ensure a three station model which includes Station 52 (Balfour in Brentwood), Station 54 (downtown Brentwood) and Station 93 (Oakley).
This thought process is to keep fire engines in the proximity of where a majority of the calls are coming from. It also ensures that during a fire response, firefighters know their second and third due engines are not far behind–ensuring firefighter safety.
If the District went with this model, it would ensure that ISO ratings would have little impact on both Brentwood and Oakley, however, Discovery Bay and its more than 16,000 residents would be greatly impacted.
Chief Henderson is aware of the thought process of keeping two Brentwood Stations open and Oakley, but said his job was to ensure the best coverage for the entire district. He said his recommendation to the Board will not change from the past.
“I still believe that the three station model with Oakley station, the Balfour station in Brentwood and station 59 Discovery Bay is the best service model to provide service across the District with very substandard resources,” said Henderson.
In 2012, it was explained by the District that a homeowner wants a ISO Rating of 5 or better because homeowner’s rates are cheaper because you have fire service. An ISO rating of 10 means no fire coverage and a 9 is a minimum department. Business owners also benefit from better ratings and they stand to gain even more as their savings continue all the way to a Class 1 rating.
Also in 2012, when the ECCFPD was going through it’s Measure S Parcel tax, State Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones warned the public that if Measure S failed, residents would see “skyrocketing” rates.
So how does ISO affect me?
ISO is a service organization (for profit) to the insurance industry, uses a 1 – 10 rating scale with 1 being the best level of service and 10 being no service at all. The ISO reviews fire protection in three major categories:
- Communication (10%) – This evaluates the function and reliability of the dispatch service.
- Water Supply (40%) – This evaluates the community’s ability to deliver firefighting water in sufficient volumes to combat fires in buildings.
- Fire Department – (50%) – This evaluates the capability of the fire department to effectively respond to and extinguish a fire. Items reviewed include apparatus, staffing, training, and station locations.
Here is a typical Annual Premium Cost Based on Home Value of $250,000 which we pulled from the Contra Costa Taxpayer Association website.
- ISO Rating 5: $1,179
- ISO Rating 6: $1,262
- ISO Rating 7: $1,359
- ISO Rating 9: $2,549
- ISO Rating 10: $2,826
7 comments
Great job naysayers . Let’s not raise taxes and pay the money to local government let’s give it to the insurance companies instead!
As a 23 year old homeowner, I’d rather give my money to an insurance company. Public agencies with unions do not deserve a single penny from my generation.
Says the man who 5 years ago his momma was cooking him dinner and washing his clothes. “As a 23 year old home owner” does not make me sit up and heed your opinion.
Five years ago I enlisted to be a soilder.
As a 70 year old home owner and landowner. I would not be surprised if the district and or its union called ISO. I would rather pay insurance instead of the union thugs.
@Listen the people,
Listen to the people? What “people” would that be? Take note: The dozen or so voices in your head do not constitute “people”.
Your comments about “union thugs” is in contrast to your comments on another thread here on ECT where you attack supervisors Karen Mitchoff and Mary Piepho for standing up to unions.
Your logic makes no sense, You would rather pay insurance that pay for the fire department which actually provides you a service? Newsflash old timer: Insurance companies don’t make house calls.
I doubt you are even close to 70. If you are you haven’t learned much.
LTP, if you are 70 years old, shouldn’t you be able to demonstrate more maturity and common sense than that?
You just publicly announced that you would choose to pay $2k-$3k PER YEAR to an insurance company rather than pay $95 to a union staffed fire department?
That takes a special brand of stupid. The conspiracy theory thrown in about ISO is just frosting on that crap cake.
Early onset dementia or are you going outside too much without a hat on?
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