| | Published July 17th, 2024
| Letters to the editor
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Sales Tax measure
I would strongly urge Lafayette not to put a sales tax increase on the ballot.
Our current sales tax is 8.75%, or 8.75% on every dollar. The proposal is for a 1 penny increase.
In truth this is an 11% plus increase in the sales tax, far above the 2% inflation rate the fed is aiming for.
Many cities and counties in California have sales tax rates below 8.75%.
Currently on any property tax bill there are already numerous additional fees and taxes added onto each bill, for homeowners and renters this is a burden.
Lafayette residents recently are getting pummeled by numerous other increases to homeowners insurance, car insurance, utility rates, inflation from every corner, not to mention increases in fees just about everywhere from tolls to entrance fees.
And the state has added a new bond measure for the November election that if passed will be additional fees to homeowners and in turn renters.
The middle class is being overburdened, it's endless.
Lafayette doesn't want to tighten it's belt yet wants us to cut back and tighten ours.
Ty Allison
Lafayette
MOFD Chief Dave Winnacker
I commend Chief Winnacker on all he has done for the community, especially his attention to wildfire prevention, a necessary service that was essentially ignored prior to his arrival. He created the North Orinda and the Tunnel East Bay Hills fuel beaks and the Community Wildfire Prevention Plan (CWPP).
Unfortunately, we have a long way to go. State Farm, Orinda's main fire insurer, recently cancelled 55% of Orinda's policies because of our unacceptable wildfire risk. Other insurers, apparently all other insurers (because it appears that replacing State Farm is virtually impossible), have agreed with State Farm's assessment. If any organization understands risk, it would be the insurance industry.
Bottom line is, we do not have an effective wildfire prevention policy. We have not modeled where the risk is highest and should be addressed (the 2022 proposal by the Center for Catastrophic Risk Management was rejected by Orinda because it had "other priorities). And we are not spending our tax dollars on mitigating the risk, namely removing excess vegetation.
Rather, MOFD sets code and expects the district's 13,000 private property owners to do the heavy lifting.
This is what other communities do. But Orinda and Moraga are not "other" communities.
MOFD is awash with cash. The District will take in $34.7 million in property taxes plus $3.5 million in other revenue this year. It projects a $1.1 million surplus ending up with $27.6 million in its General and Capital Funds. It's long range financial plan shows a combined balance of $69 million in ten years. The District could generate an additional $2 million in parcel taxes annually, but every year the board chooses not to, most recently at their June 19 board meeting.
If Orinda burns, and someday it will, it will be the responsibility of "our" fire department not spending "our" taxes on critical needs. It has been estimated by a wildfire prevention expert that it would cost about $12 million to mitigate Orinda's excess vegetation. The money is there, it is just not being spent on what it should be.
Steve Cohn
Orinda |
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA