Calaveras County, CA…Calaveras County Clerk Rebecca Turner this week certified that volunteers collected enough voter signatures to place the Calaveras Local Fire Protection Tax Initiative on the November Ballot. That means that the citizen initiative will now go to the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors on April 12 so the board can formally call an election and consolidate it with this year’s general election.

The 1 percent sales tax, if approved by voters, would make it possible for all nine local fire districts and the City of Angels Camp Fire Department to improve staffing and assure that firefighters are available 24/7 in all parts of the county to respond to emergencies.

“This was an outstanding volunteer effort,” said Calaveras Local Fire Protection Committee Chairman Dana Nichols of San Andreas. “We didn’t have the big money that the typical statewide petition campaigns have. So we did not hire professional signature collectors. It turned out that there are plenty of people here who want to make sure local firefighters can afford to live here and protect us.”

Calaveras County’s local fire districts have long been a training ground, Nichols said. Often, young people who still live with their parents volunteer for a few years then leave because they want paying jobs. Often that means that those firefighters move out of the area.

That talent drain has increased in recent years as Cal Fire and federal agencies have increased their hiring of firefighters.

If it had been in place in the 2020-21 fiscal year that ended on June 30, 2021, the Calaveras Local Fire Protection Tax Initiative would have generated almost $5.7 million, enough when divided among the ten local agencies to allow them all to improve staffing.

According to the Signature Verification Certificate issued by Turner, the campaign turned in a total of 3,056 signatures on the Feb. 22 deadline. Of those, 2,595 were found to be “sufficient,” meaning that the signature and listed address were a match for a registered voter. That total is 434 more valid signatures than the minimum 2,161 required to call an election.

Nichols said the Calaveras Local Fire Protection Committee will soon begin making plans for November. Supporters of local fire protection who want to get involved can contact the campaign through its website, calaveraslfp.org, or by calling Nichols at 209-768-9072.

###