The vital importance of Mendocino County’s Measure P

The Mendocino County Fire Chiefs Association (MCFCA) is proud to share how Measure P funds are delivering concrete benefits and providing relief for our chronically underfunded Fire Agency services.  

In 2016, the Board of Supervisors Chair published a letter estimating that county fire agencies were experiencing up to a $10 million annual funding shortfall. Since then, fire agencies have advocated for and secured incremental funding support such as Measure P. But a lot has changed since 2016. Just based on inflation alone, the 2016 estimate is closer to an annual $13 million shortfall in today’s dollars. That estimate also did not account for increased call volumes; new requirements and standards for equipment, staffing, training and administration; and the elevated severity and frequency of disaster events. Collection for Measure P, a ¼-cent sales tax, started in April 2023, and distribution began in January 2024. Last year, Measure P delivered over $4 million to the 22 county fire agencies and Mendocino County Fire Safe Council. Although it is not close to adequately filling the shortfall, fire agencies have already benefited immensely from these funds. 

One use of Measure P funds is providing basic pay levels for personnel—in some cases, marking it possible for the first time to pay someone to focus their full attention on the agency and the community’s safety. Fire agencies are all-emergency responders, handling medical emergencies, car accidents, public assistance calls, and hazardous calls such as downed trees or electrical lines, all of which have dramatically increased in recent years. Fire agencies also provide a range of community services including backup suppression for planned burns, smoke-complaint investigations, building safety inspections, and traffic control for large events and parades. 

Countywide calls have increased by about a third since 2016 and show no sign of slowing down. For example, Ukiah Valley Fire Authority is responding to 500+ calls a month, some outside their district, where they do not receive any property tax-based funding for services. The increasing call volume and workload, and the obvious need to plan and prepare for the likelihood of larger fires, indicates that our communities are relying on fire agencies now more than ever.  

For the Albion Little River Fire Protection District, with call volume up 300% in the past 10 years and ongoing challenges with volunteer availability for responding to incidents, Measure P made it possible for the chief’s position to be paid full-time. The Covelo Fire Protection District, whose chief position was part-time and mostly unpaid for the past decade, can now have a full-time chief to “enable the district to pursue grant funding to grow the department and increase the services offered within the community.” Measure P has also enabled the Westport Volunteer Fire Department to operate more effectively by “providing a stable source of revenue for training programs, regular vehicle maintenance and repairs by a professional mechanic, equipment upgrades, and funds to pay our full-time fire chief a modest salary.” Hopland Fire Protection District is also using Measure P to pay personnel, a necessity for their responses that include severe accidents on Highway 101. Even dedicated volunteers can’t just leave their regular jobs to respond to emergencies, and our rural economies often require working far from home, making their response times inadequate for emergency calls. 

The reality is that, whether a fire department’s staff is volunteer, paid, or combo, communities expect and deserve the same level of service, and responders need the same level of safety. That means volunteers need the same training, the same personal protective equipment (PPE), and the same apparatus as paid personnel. Furthermore, the cost of those requirements will likely increase significantly as new federal OSHA laws are on track to be implemented in the near future. 

For the South Coast Fire Protection District, “Measure P funding has been essential in enabling our fire department to deliver the high-quality services our coastal communities rely on and ensure the safety of our personnel. This funding directly supports the replacement of outdated or compromised personal protective equipment, apparatus, and other critical resources.” Elk Community Services District purchased a command vehicle for their volunteer chief, so he no longer must use his personal vehicle to respond to incidents, as well as a vehicle extrication tool to free people trapped after serious accidents. 

Last year, Long Valley Fire Protection District “was able to cover an unforeseen repair bill on our rescue truck. We also replaced 23 aged portable radios that we had struggled for several years to budget for. We have also purchased new breathing apparatuses, something else we could not budget for in the past, even though ours were out of compliance due to their age. The funding has been a blessing, to say the least. We finally have some financial wiggle room because of this funding.” 

The Little Lake Fire Protection District made similarly badly needed replacements. “Our turnouts are from 2005 and prior. With the high cost of complete sets including turnouts, breathing apparatus, boots, gloves, helmets, etc.—and with 36 volunteers—it was unattainable with our current budget, which is 23 years old. Expenses have increased but not our revenue—except for countywide measures like Measure P, which also freed up funds for additional hoses and firefighting supplies that are expensive to replace. We are hoping, if Measure P is consistent, that it will also free up funds for personnel. We do not have it in our budget for additional paid help and rely heavily on our volunteers. But as we know, volunteers today are hard to come by, and we cannot always guarantee a response with our continuously increased responses.”  Although critical for operations, they note that Measure P funds are not sufficient to fund  the construction of their new firehouse, for which they had to go to the voters; those funds cannot be expended on operational costs. 

“Fort Bragg Fire was able to get a new roof on our station, a VERY much-needed project. We also replaced the back apparatus bay doors, which were from the mid-1970s. We were able to secure our sub-station on Highway 20, enhance the lighting at our main station, and order structure gear for many of our volunteers. We have put aside funds for training expenses and our Apparatus Replacement Account, which has not been keeping up with our Engine Replacement Plan.” 

The Mendocino County Fire Safe Council (MCFSC) is also receiving some funding from Measure P. In addition to their existing free programs for Defensible Space Assistance, Chipper Days and Wildfire Risk Home Assessments, as well as their steady stream of community education and organizing, MCFSC has implemented a new Community Work Party program that brings their full crew to assist with neighborhood projects. Recent events have been held in Manchester, Pine Mountain and Blue Rock. They are also working with the Hopland Research Extension Center to implement a three-part lesson plan on fire science and wildfire preparedness, with nearly 800 students countywide registered for this year’s program. 

As a general tax, the County of Mendocino is not obligated to pass on Measure P revenue to fire agencies. However, the Board of Supervisors also passed Resolution 22-159, stating its intent that 100 percent of the Measure P funds collected would be used for fire protection and prevention services. To date, the County of Mendocino is apportioning all Measure P revenues as intended by Mendocino County voters and Resolution 22-159. 

But Measure P will sunset in less than 10 years, and the benefits it is bringing to our fire agencies and communities will be compromised if it is not continued or replaced. At the recent Board of Supervisors workshop, Supervisor Mulheren expressed the need for a sustainable fire-service funding model and pointed out that funding like Measure P is not only temporary but inadequate. The Mendocino County Fire Chiefs Association (MCFCA) completely agrees. 

In the face of rising call volumes; unprecedented and extreme weather events and wildfires; increased tourism; rural residents wishing to age-in-place; more demanding standards issued by the state and federal government; and diminishing volunteers, what does a sustainable fire service model in Mendocino look like? MCFCA is dedicated to answering that question. Measure P gets us closer to adequate levels of emergency-response service, but we are still not where we need to be to fully protect our communities in perpetuity.