Groveland fire assessment

A former nine-year GCSD director urged a no vote, arguing the flat assessment is disproportionate, doubling Twain Harte's per-capita fire cost, and that the district has two years of reserves to reorganize instead.

Presented a map and explained GCSD's engine historically covered the whole south county; said the assessment is a Prop 218 requirement for county ballots and that losing GCSD's engine would leave the area on its own.

A ~40-year Groveland resident asked why the county's assessment rose from ~$5,600 to $7,115 and urged a no vote to protect sheriff funding, noting the district has reserves to explore other options.

Called the assessment document poorly written and rushed, demanding legal backing and verified answers.

Said a prior speaker claimed abstaining equals a yes vote, and implored a no vote if true — otherwise supporting abstention like Supervisor Campbell.

From Groveland, supported the county not voting, revealed she personally voted yes, and warned that failure could spike insurance rates and county fire costs; cited the Priest fire as proof of need.

GCSD board president and career firefighter described the county-GCSD-Calfire partnership and the 15-year financial analysis behind the assessment, without advocating a vote.

Urged the board to table the item until it had supporting materials, noting no staff report was presented.

GCSD staff member said she emailed the public presentation and engineer's report to the board the day before and offered to answer questions; county counsel noted counties generally pay valid Prop 218 assessments with special benefit.

GCSD board vice president explained the district's multi-year planning process and said the final decision belongs to property owners under Prop 218.

A 57-year Groveland resident argued supervisors' weighted ballots carry 12 times his power and urged them to recuse or abstain rather than vote on an assessment in a district where none of them live.

Groveland resident asked the board to vote no, calling the assessment a 'forever tax' without a sunset clause, citing the general manager's statements that the district has 1.5 to 2 years of funds and time for another election.

Argued the assessment methodology improperly counts mutual aid calls outside district boundaries and didn't break out district-only call volumes, inflating the engine's apparent activity.