A plan to outsource the city Fire Department and add a parcel tax of $148 per year took a big step forward Wednesday with the unanimous approval of the agency in charge of overseeing that process.
The Local Agency Formation Commission, or LAFCO, voted to move forward with San Bernardino’s proposal to annex the 137-year old San Bernardino Fire Department into Fire Protection District Service Zone FP5-5, giving responsibility for fire and emergency medical response to the county fire department. That also means that zone’s tax — $148 per parcel in fiscal year 2016-17, and increasing by up to 3 percent each year — would be applied to each of the more than 42,000 properties in the city.
LAFCO will mail a form to registered voters and landowners that allows them to protest that move, which could kill it if enough protest.