Home CONFIRE Contra Costa Firefighters Answer Frequently Asked Questions

Contra Costa Firefighters Answer Frequently Asked Questions

by ECT

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In an attempt to raise awareness about fire services in Contra Costa County, the Professional Firefighters of Contra Costa County Fire produced a Frequently Asked Questions document where they answer several questions about their department and fire services they provide.

Our goal here with this post is to not try and sway your opinion at this time, but rather make the information readily available to you so you can make an educated decision unlike those characters at the Contra Costa Times Editorial Board who want you to believe the District is going broke which is noting more than politically motivated writing. Simple answer, with property tax revenue always available each year, the District can never “technically” go broke.

Here is a look at the Frequently Asked Questions they provide answers to.

  • How much does the county pay for fire services?
  • How do fire services compare to other insurance costs?
  • How much does CCCFPD cost compared to other departments?
  • How has fire service changed over the years?
  • How does the fire department influence fire insurance rates?
  • How are fire stations and fire engines staffed? Why?
  • How does (CCCFPD) staffing compare to industry standards?
  • What do firefighters do at fires?
  • What are the industry standards and laws regarding structural firefighting?
  • Who are your Contra Costa County Firefighters?

Let’s just look at Question 1 to highlight  just how much misinformation has been shared due to rhetoric of the local papers and anti-tax folks.

“How much does the county pay for fire services?”

Last year, Contra Costa County spent $138,595,870 on fire services, which is 5.882% of the $2,356,164,293 total county budget. CCCFPD’s district-specific budget (salaries, benefits and all) is equivalent to 4.76% of the County’s total appropriations.

Individual cost to taxpayers:
The cost, on average, per resident of the District, is $196 per year or $16.35 per month.

Please compare that with some of your monthly bills:

  • Concord residents’ water costs are $52.96/month
  • Pittsburg residents’ water costs are $71.65/month
  • Comcast phone/internet/cable bundle starts at $99/month
  • Average Californian’s electric bill is $64.83/month
  • Contra Costa Times (S.J. Mercury) annual subscription is $178.44, or $14.87/month

I encourage you to click this link and take the time to go through the Frequently Asked Questions as they provide a very educational and an eye opener experience to your fire service–they also have videos and links to many reports conducted on fire service.

Let an honest and thoughtful debate begin as we move forward.

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7 comments

HonestInjun Sep 4, 2013 - 6:42 pm

Great questions and great comments. Don’t you think you should be totally honest and open by telling us readers how many millions of dollars the county, I mean us owe the fire pension system that the county never finished paying. Maybe you could break it down to how much each resident owes to the firefighters retirement before selling another new costly ballot measure ?

Let the debate or controlled debate begin.

burkforoakley Sep 4, 2013 - 8:11 pm

@HonestInjun,

We can start the debate by you sharing exactly who you are instead of one of your 10 alias names. Yes, I know who you are, let the rest of the folks know so it truly can be honest.

Tim Sep 4, 2013 - 9:12 pm

@ not so Honest Idiot,

Well look who the cat drug in…. Don’t you think its you should be totally honest. Why don’t you let people know who you are so they will know they are dealing with a true psychopath? Come on cheapskate, you know you have been kicked to the curb at least a dozen times–changing your screen name doesn’t change that! The only thing you seem to have expertise in is “”Fuzzy Math”” and bullshit. Your continued bitching around taxes and how they relate to public safety tells me you are the biggest freeloader of them all. Truth hurts.

Personally, I’m glad that burkforoakley called you out.

HonestInjun Sep 4, 2013 - 8:16 pm

I was thinking that your $16.35 is so far off it smells like smoke. If our fire department is run off of property taxes or a percentage there of, the person who owns an average price home valued at lets say $500,000 would pay a tax of about $6,250. per year. If you take say 8% of $6,250 divided by 12 would be $ even though more goes into fire, times 8 % becomes $41.67 per mo. This is well more than double the wrong number posted in this article of $16.35. A person with an $800.000 home pays approximately $10,000 in taxes. They pay $67. per month. This does not include all the freeloaders on public assistance whom get paid from more of our taxes and pay nothing. Your debate does not hold water. So, how many millions are we on the hook for after this monthly payment that mind you will increase 1% per year by law if we do not double dip in another great recession.

Buy a Clue Sep 5, 2013 - 12:12 am

Good gawd, you don’t know the difference between a PER CAPITA figure and a per parcel figure? Have you bothered to read any of the multiple reports which has stated and restated the PER CAPITA figures over and over and over?

But you want to have a debate involving numbers??

ROFL!!

Guess what the average household size is in America: 2.6

And what is 2.6 x 16.35??

Well, lookie there. Another of your conspiracy theories goes down in flames.

Still cheaper than your average water or cable bill. But I’m confident you’ll sharpen your crayon for another go around with another excuse.

But wait, let’s jump back on the pension bandwagon. Those lousy returns over there are worth starting a new round of complaining about. Hell, you can probably even get Danny the Dipshit Borenstein to recycle another of his fact challenged hit pieces.

https://www.calpers.ca.gov/eip-docs/member/perspective/2013-spring-full.pdf

Wait, what’s that on page 5? You mean CALPERS is returning more than the 7.25% that Danny and his whiny friends were insisting the numbers be changed to? And they have managed to be above that average even during some of the worst fiscal years in our lifetimes? And the 20 year average is a full .74% ABOVE that number, meaning less taxpayer contributions?

Say it ain’t so! I read different in the Contra Costa Times right before I lined my birdcage with it.

You should have stuck to selling brake pads and heater hoses. You’re not cut out for a political discussion.

ECV Sep 5, 2013 - 12:46 pm

HonestInjun, aka Crazy Horse

Did you wander off of the reservation?

Now let’s look at your “spins” shall we? You claim the “average price of a home “valued” at 500k… ” In case you missed it there are several problems with that statement.

Average, Mean and Median all play a part in relation to your comment primarily because there are MORE homes are valued at UNDER 500k than are valued over 500k. You may find this current home sales value index germane to the discussion; http://rereport.com/ccc/ While it’s pointed out that the median home price in Contra Costa in 2012 was 315k and has risen to 415k in 2013 the problem is homes are not selling. Most reports rely on the Median as compared to the Average price; Condo’s, Townhomes, Duets, etc. are all factored in as well as the McMansions of Lafayette, Danville and Blackhawk which alter your assumption of 500k being the average. Prices maybe up, but overall sales are down.

I doubt if the average home price in CCcounty is 500k (certainly the Median is not), but even if so, it is not the average price that is taxed. It is the “assessed” value. This has been reported so many times as the primary cause of this issue, I wonder how you could have possibly overlooked it?

That is just the beginning of your bad math. Next comes the tax rate which is 1 percent. Far less than what you posted. http://www.co.contra-costa.ca.us/index.aspx?NID=1125 The rest of those assessment’s are for add ons (Bart, East Bay Regional Parks, community colleges, local school bonds, etc.., which do not go to the “county”) it appears the county is only the vehicle for collecting those fee’s/taxes/assessment’s. Furthermore after reading the link and chart it looks like the “county” only gets 13 percent of property taxes. Maybe you should be angry with the schools which get 49 percent right off of the top! Don’t forget to then add in all of those lovely school bonds that you have voted in. It’s a real eye opener.

Now, take a realistic figure of 400k house, with an assessed value of 300 to 350k and you have an annual tax assessment of 3,000 to 3,500 yr. Divide that by 12 and you have $250-$291 a month. From everything that I have read the fire department gets between 5% and 12% percent of that figure, depending on where you live. So now you have some actual figures along with actual variable’s to work with.

High side: $291 x 12% = $34.92 a month per parcel. Divide by at least 2 people living in each parcel and you get $17.46 per resident. However when you factor in the average of 2.6 people per dwelling the cost drops again.

Low side: $250 x 5% = 12.50 a month per parcel. Divide by at least 2 people living in each parcel and you get $ $6.25 per resident. A factor of 2.6 resident drops the figure below 5 bucks per person.

If anything the figure the author used ($16.35) is on the LOW side for the majority of taxpayers in the county.

ECVsBrother Sep 5, 2013 - 9:24 pm

Big bro you are spot on except MB presented examples without factoring in the 2.6 per home. This is kind of misleading don’t you think? So then the CC Times must cost $ 5.71 cents per household and water $ 21.18. Also, the other liabilities of the district are not mentioned. Maybe you and Crazy Horse need to smoke some peace pipe. So what ? Bro, what’s your point ?
Is this a debate or a lobby effort for the fire district union? Either way is fine but don’t be embarrassed about your goals unless you are trying to pull the wool over peoples eyes. Bro, if you want to talk median prices of homes you should bring up median income too.

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