Mar. 15—The Sutter County Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) approved requests for consultant services on Thursday to review county fire and emergency services provisions in hopes of identifying ways to enhance service and governance efficiencies.
According to Sutter LAFCO Executive Officer Doug Libby, there has not been a comprehensive municipal service review for County Service Areas (CSA) C, D, F, and G since April 2017. During a meeting on Jan. 11, Libby said that updating these reviews would give Sutter County the opportunity to understand the impact various emergency services have on one another.
Municipal service reviews are to be completed every five years or as necessary per LAFCO law, Libby said.
Under this project scope, the municipal service review will include every fire service agency in Sutter County, while the sphere of influence review will be agency specific. LAFCO hopes to gain a better understanding of fire and pre-hospital medical care services throughout Sutter County and analyze ways to improve services or funding opportunities.
According to Sutter County Administrator Steve Smith, depending on the results of these reviews, there could be little to no adjustments in operations, or there could be recommendations for larger changes like the consolidation of certain services, or the creation or dissolution of certain districts.
“It should show how the services work in comparison to other rural counties and cities. It may make recommendations that could potentially save money or make services more efficient,” Smith said in an email.
LAFCO Chair and Sutter County District 5 Supervisor Mat Conant previously said that this is a long overdue process in providing enhanced fire services to certain areas like CSA F that struggle to keep adequate funding. With the majority of Sutter County being either in a flood plain or part of the Sutter Buttes, the county sees approximately 30 homes built in a year. However, Conant estimates that just as many are either burned or torn down in the same time frame, making the area’s tax base extremely limited when attempting to fund services for areas like CSA F.
“Our net gain is almost nothing, so our tax base simply does not support the Area F fire, and the county in the last four years has put literally millions of dollars into Area F fire and keeping it going. That is not sustainable, and the county has to get a plan together to have the citizens vote on and approve an increase into Area F fire to (make it) sustainable,” Conant said during the Jan. 11 meeting.
Sutter County has seen numerous challenges in funding necessary public services, including fire, after the failure of Measure A in 2022, a one cent general sales tax measure that would have generated revenue for public safety and emergency services countywide. Measure A failed to pass with 51% of voters voting against it. Since then, Sutter County has been seeking a joint sales tax measure with Yuba City in hopes of funding public safety and infrastructure needs for county and city residents, which will go to voters in November.
According to Smith, LAFCO will not typically recommend consolidations of districts unless they are financially stable.
“As you may be aware, Sutter County’s County Service Area — F (Sutter County Fire) is not financially sustainable (except for the Live Oak station) as currently being operated (two personnel per shift at the Town of Sutter station and Oswald-Tudor station). The county has sought different solutions including Measure A that would have solved the problem, and we continue to apply for large grants that can serve to extend services for several years while we seek a permanent solution,” Smith said. “In short, what this will mean is yet to be seen depending upon the results of the study. I am looking forward to seeing the results and subsequent recommendations.”
A request for proposals was brought to LAFCO for approval on Tuesday and was circulated to all Sutter County fire agencies as well as to Smith and the Yuba City and Live Oak city managers. Conant said that ultimately, these reviews will help guide Sutter County as it explores solutions to providing adequate fire services to unincorporated areas.
“This is something we really need to do to get a handle on what this county needs for fire service. There are lots of options that might be brought before this thing is done. Maybe we want to combine fire service. Maybe we don’t. Maybe we want to combine fire with the city or the county. There are lots of things that this could bring forward that we don’t know where it’s going to go, which is a wonderful thing to show that we’re thinking outside the box,” Conant said Tuesday.
The request for proposals will be issued on March 22 and responses are due by April 24. Conant along with Commissioners Marc Boomgaarden and Enita Elphick will serve on an ad hoc committee to review submitted proposals in May.