The Contra Costa Fire Protection District will annex the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District, both districts announced Monday.
Each district’s board of directors approved the move, which now must be submitted to the Contra Costa Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) for formal approval.
The move will bring 128,000 residents of East Contra Costa under the purview of the larger district. The move is expected to take four to six months, followed by the operational and administerial consolidation of the two districts.
“I am so excited and proud of the teamwork that has brought us to this point,” Diane Burgis, the District 3 supervisor on the county Board of Supervisors, said in a statement. “With the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors acting as the Con Fire board unanimously approving the request to formally apply for annexation of ECCFPD, and the ECCFPD board voting unanimously to move forward, we are a giant step closer to providing improved fire and rescue services in East Contra Costa County.”
The move is expected to help what ECCFPD Board President Brian Oftedal said has historically been an underfunded district.
“Annexation will improve response times, open fire stations, and provide a paramedic level of service for our communities,” Oftedal said in a statement.
4 comments
Does that mean the underpaid East Contra Costa fire fighters now get their pay aligned with Contra Costa fire? They are going to need more money from us to help support that with their giant pensions and absurdly large overtime pay rate.
Yes it does.
Long overdo
Wonderful. I’m thrilled that my tax dollars are going to be funneled to another district that can’t manage to stay afloat.
Its actually unfair to expect everyone to fund their own fire department as is the design of separate districts. Its like expecting a poor neighborhood to give the same level of education as a rich neighborhood. And then you complain that the kids from the poor neighborhood don’t test well in school. Why would you expect them too? Fire should be funded equally from the general fund and budgeted for. And one station is closed it doesn’t go to a voter referendum to be reopened. All the money comes from one place and no closures!
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