Why is Atherton ONLY picking on the Fire District? Waste is everywhere. If funds are badly needed to build a new luxurious Atherton Civic Center, why not look elsewhere, such as

1) Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corp.

Afterall, you likely spend far more in your income taxes with them than you receive. If you detach from the military, you could provide your own.

2) Schools

A huge amount of the property taxes go to schools. Are you getting your fair share? If not, you are likely providing them excess funds. Why not demand they REFUND part of your hard earned property taxes back to the town?

3) Hospital District, Mosquito District, Ambulance District, Sewer District, Water District and so on.

Are you getting your money's worth? Have you determined what you give them in relationship to what you get back?

I could go on and on. The fact is you may be "cutting off your nose despite your face". The Fire Service provides you excellent service. Are you willing to sacrifice that for a cheaper cost?

Any Fire District revenues diverted to help poorly managed Atherton will be funds taken away fro East Palo Alto and Menlo Park.

That just isn't going to happen. Neither Atherton residents or the other residents of the District would support such a move.

Atherton needs to concentrate on its own problems - including a stalled Town Center project and the taxpayers rejection of the last parcel tax.

Most of the comments made by Mr Carpenter in this news blog are data-based and well thought out. Not so with his commentary on issues related to the MPFD, and especially his commentary above.

His arguments above have no basis in any facts and appear highly emotional and defensive.

By what yardstick is Atherton “poorly managed”? It’s the MPFD that is under scrutiny by a grand jury for poor management practices, not Atherton.

Re funds taken away from Menlo Oark and EPA, let’s remember that Atherton’s only significant source of revenue is property tax. MP and EPA both have retail, commercial, and hotel businesses as a source of revenue. By what compass, moral or otherwise should Atherton residents be obligated to subsidize these cities, both of whom are bigger? Just because the average income is lower? This is a spurious and emotional argument.

Atherton residents won’t support any move to change the status quo? Wrong! We will indeed. We are not stupid. A $20M subsidy by 2025 is crazy broken. You bet we’ll support a change.

I agree with Mr Carpenter that Atherton needs to focus on its own problems, and this is s big one.

Ron - let's look at the facts.

The last time the fire District went to the voters the voters approved by 79% a $10 million increase in the District's expenditure limit.

The last time Atherton went to the voters the voters turned down a new parcel tax. "Passage of the measure required approval by two-thirds of the voters, but only 52.6 percent of voters gave their consent."

The last independent poll of resident satisfaction with the Fire District's performance showed that 98.5 % satisfied..

The last independent poll of resident satisfaction with the the Town of Atherton's performance - never has been done.

Is the the 'ol story of the pot calling the kettle black?

No city on the Peninsula pays more to run their police department than does the Town of Atherton, yet, Atherton has one of the lowest crime rates. Go figure? Take a look at the salaries paid to the police department. Take a look at the number of personnel per capita. If Menlo Park or the County Sheriff's Department could provide a similar service for significant less, might this provide additional funds for projects such as building the new civic center?

Obviously it is easier to point the finger at others, such as the Fire Dept., schools and a host of other services paid by Atherton but provided by others, than it does to pause and take time to look internally.

Perhaps the survey Mr. Carpenter referred to is long over due and could provide insight on the true priorities of the day. I suspect providing an "education" to the community for the tune of approx. $60,000 for "Fire Service Fiscal Review" is not one of them.

"No city on the Peninsula pays more to run their police department than does the Town of Atherton, yet, Atherton has one of the lowest crime rates. Go figure?"

Chicken and egg. Is the crime rate low because virtually everyone that lives in Atherton is a 1%er, and is unlikely to commit crimes, not to mention they live behind walls and gates and have alarm systems or is it because they pay a ridiculous amount of money for a "boutique" police department. My money is on the former.

@Observer II

Perhaps Atherton has its low crime rate because it spends its budget on police services.

The reporter states:
"One thing has been conspicuously absent since a consultant hired by Atherton came out with a report in January showing that the Menlo Park Fire Protection District spends less than half its Atherton-generated property tax revenue providing fire services in the town: any public comment from the district about the report and its conclusions."

Yet the fact is that Matrix offered the Fire District the opportunity to review its draft report for accuracy but the Town Manager blocked that review.

The fact is that the Town Council never asked the Fire Board for its comments on the study.

The fact is that the Town Council never invited the Fire Board to attend or participate in any of its discussion on the Matrix report.

And now that the Town has learned from Matrix that there is zero chance for detachment and zero chance for legislative remedies the Town Council suddenly wants to talk to the Fire Board.

Atherton Town Council.....you know now you need to kiss the Fire Board’s Ass. Too bad, you lose......

Let's do a relevance check on Mr Carpenter's statements in one of his subsequent posts:

He says, "The last time the fire District went to the voters the voters approved by 79% a $10 million increase in the District's expenditure limit."

I AM SURE THIS IS TRUE. THE VOTING POPULATION INCLUDES PEOPLE IN THE ENTIRE MPFD SERVICE AREA. WHY WOULDN'T VOTERS OUTSIDE OF ATHERTON SUPPORT THIS? BUT DID THE MPFD DISCLOSE THESE FUNDS WOULD BE USED TO PURCHASE MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR HOMES IN ATHERTON? THIS IS HOW FUNDS ARE BEING SPENT. IS THIS GOOD STEWARDSHIP OF TAXPAYER MONIES??

PC also says, "The last time Atherton went to the voters the voters turned down a new parcel tax. "Passage of the measure required approval by two-thirds of the voters, but only 52.6 percent of voters gave their consent."

ALSO TRUE. AND THIS PROVES THAT ATHERTON TAXPAYERS ARE NOT DUMB. THEY UNDERSTOOD THAT THEIR ELECTED OFFICIALS WERE NOT BEING GOOD FINANCIAL STEWARDS OF TAX MONIES. THEY WILL ALSO PERCEIVE THAT THE MPFD'S ELECTED BOARD OF DIRECTORS ARE NOT GOOD FINANCIAL STEWARDS AS WELL; THIS IS ONE OF THE FINDINGS OF THE GRAND JURY.

And lastly, PC says, "The last independent poll of resident satisfaction with the Fire District's performance showed that 98.5 % satisfied."

THIS IS A MEASUREMENT OF THE QUALITY OF SERVICES PERFORMED BY THE EMERGENCY RESPONDERS OF THE DEPT. AND THEY DO A SPECTACULAR JOB. BUT THIS MEASUREMENT SAYS NOTHING ABOUT THE LEADERSHIP AND IT'S FISCAL MANAGEMENT. AND WITH THE MONEY THE MPFD IS SPENDING, ONE WOULD EXPECT THEM TO DO A GREAT JOB.

I AM SAD TO SEE MR CARPENTER, A MEMBER OF THE MPFD BOARD, DISSING ATHERTON LEADERSHIP. INSTEAD, WHY NOT SIT DOWN WITH THEM, LISTEN, SPEAK YOUR PIECE, AND THEN WORK OUT A SOLUTION AMICABLY.

The Fire Board has had a number of meetings with the Town Council , the latest last December, and the Council never raised the fiscal review issue or the Matrix contract.

This issue has cost the taxpayers close to $100k when you add in the Fire District and the Town's staff time. To what end?

Ron:

why are you YELLING?

@Apple, similar communities using the Sheriff like Woodside and Portola Valley have very low crime rates, so we don't have to spend the huge amount on police to get low crime rates.

What I see here is Atherton unable to raise funds for its civic center, and wanting to play brinksmanship with the fire district to get them to pay for some of it.

Why not take it a step further and withdraw from San Mateo County? My property taxes, I believe, are more disproportionately (compared with MPFD) going to the county at large than being spent on Atherton by the county.

If people think that's a ridiculous strategy, the fire district brinksmanship is admittedly less ridiculous but the same general idea at work. Actually, I'm a libertarian. I don't agree with different tax rates for the same services. Yet, I think it's a futile waste of time, money and energy for Atherton to pursue this because it's not going to go anywhere.

Ron:

Relax:

You live in a well protected community. Your public safety services are excellent. You pay a lot of taxes, but no way to either reduce or get a refund from any surplus.

Fire district not in debt. High $$$$$ reserves. No added taxes or bond measures to keep up with building new stations or equipment.

Thanks Civil Grand Jury for a nice report. Some not factual.

Ron..... run for either Atherton council or fire board.... help and solve what you think are problems. Work as a team, they will, I’m sure listen.

@Atherton resident

"similar communities using the Sheriff like Woodside and Portola Valley have very low crime rates, so we don't have to spend the huge amount on police to get low crime rates."

Atherton is very different geographically from Portola Valley and Woodside. Atherton is virtually surrounded by higher crime urban areas, while the other two communities are not. Yes, Atherton has similar crime levels. Why do criminals stay out of Atherton if that's where the money is?

I posit that it's from Atherton's higher public service levels. We have a larger and more focused police presence than Woodside and Portola Valley, which deters crime. Local control means that our police force is much more customer focus oriented.

You can save money by outsourcing to the county, but it won't be that much if you maintain the same infrastructure and number of personnel. San Mateo County sheriff officers are paid higher than Atherton officers if you take a look at Transparent California.
Web Link

The real debate is about service levels, not outsourcing. The higher the service levels, the lower the crime. Criminals tend to stay away from areas with higher police presence and better response times.

Atherton needs to make a critical decision. Do the taxpayers there want the added police service? Then they will pay for it. With about over 70% of Atherton’s budget are police services, pay for the added service, or go with the Sheriffs Office. Millbrae and San Carlos have contracted their police services, are they satisfied?

Does Atherton want a new civic center and still maintain their Police Department? $$$$$$$$$.

Can they afford to do it all. Millbrae and San Carlos tried and
lost. Good luck with getting $$$$$ out of the Fire district, that ship passed when you threatned to withdraw from district.

I am reminded of a story about a man that very badly wanted the State to give him part of a local bank but the State just yawned.

He then asked the legislature to give him part of the bank but the Legislature just yawned.

Finally he decided to just rob the bank only to discover after he was inside the bank that he did not have any bullets in his gun – the bank yawned.

I am reminded of a trust fund baby whose inheritance was based on an inequitable Prop 13 allocation. Thus, the child never had to work hard to make ends meet. He did not play nicely with his less fortunate neighbors and told them they were poor because only he knew how to make ends meet.

He then realized the "less fortunates" had figured out how to get more money through land development, including massive office spaces and hotels, threatening to drain his trust fund. Since he had been a jerk to them, the neighbors did not want to give him more money (impact fees).

He decided to to go it alone and struck a secret deal with the new developments. But, it wasn't enough. Finally, he decided to take his toys and go home and wondered why nobody liked him ... while watching his large fortune dwindle to a small one.

The cities yawned.

In some countries, the Fire Department is run at the National level. Thus, if a local city or county wanted to detach themselves from the fire department, they'd have to move to another country.

Thus, if Atherton doesn't like the local fire department, perhaps its citizens should move to another city or county, or better yet, start their own city and build it just the way they want.

The survey Mr Carpenter refers to had approximately 10 Atherton residents take it. Hardly a statistically relevant sample. It was also most likely sent to his CERT/ADAPT friends as not every resident got one. It is time to stop using this statistic to justify the position. Does the Fire District provide good service. Yes. Is the rate Atherton is paying fair. No. Are the other jurisdictions in the District building their reserves hand over fist. Yes.

I look forward to a vote if it comes down to this but hope the fire district will consider the facts and discuss this in good faith. As Mr Carpenter is (supposedly) not running again, perhaps these should take place after he is off the Board.

"Hardly a statistically relevant sample. It was also most likely sent to his CERT/ADAPT friends as not every resident got one"

The survey was done by a third party - here is the methodology:

Methodology
Survey Dates: • 6/14/2017 – 6/24/2017
Sample Size: • 202 completed surveys
Sampling Error: • +/- 6.9% at the 95% confidence level
Unit of Analysis: • Adult Residents
Survey Medium: • Facebook
Population: • Residents within Menlo Park Fire Protection District
Screens • Age, Language (to minimize Latino oversampling)
Languages • English
Quotas • Location, Gender, Latino
Corrections • Weighting for Female Oversample (Actual pop is 50.5% female)
Principal Researcher • Craig R. Everett, PhD

******
202 in survey

1 out of every 284 residents over 18 were sampled

“There are about 200 million adult or voting age Americans. But the average poll has a sample size of 1,000 adults. This means that only one person in 200,000 will be included in any one national or state poll. “


“The important rule in sampling is not how many poll respondents are selected but, instead, how they are selected. A reliable sample selects poll respondents randomly or in a manner which insures that everyone in the area being surveyed has a known chance of being selected.”

The Citizens’ survey used a sample of individuals which exactly matched the demographics of the District’s voting age population.

" Is the rate Atherton is paying fair. "

The Town of Atherton pays NO property taxes and receives fire service without charge.

All residents of the Fire District pay property taxes directly related to each individual's assessed value.

Other entities like the school districts (including parcel tax and bond repayment) and the County receive a larger share of these property taxes than does the Fire District.

Just my 2 cents:

1: I commend the Fire District for managing their revenues such that they're fiscally stable, and planned well for the future. While MPFPD has copius amounts of revenue, I've seen plenty of groups with high revenues just fritter it away, so on that score the Fire District deserves credit for being well-run.

However.

2: it's indisputable that MPFPD receives far more revenue than it reasonably needs due to the way property tax revenue is apportioned due to Assembly Bill 8 (AB8). This is not MPFPD's fault, but they're certainly the happy (for them) beneficiary of a broken distribution of property taxes.



Roy, a resident of Menlo Park:other, wrote:
"inequitable Prop 13 allocation."

Wrong. There is no such thing as a "Prop 13 allocation." AB8 sets apportionments, not Prop 13. The Assembly (+Senate +governor) is fully empowered to change the apportionment of property tax revenue to address inequities like the one discussed here. They chose to not do so because they LIKE the current tax structure, and the only thing the state would want to change is to seize even more of your income.

The answer may be simple.

If you don't like how much you're paying to the Fire District, School District, Harbor District, Mosquito District, Water District, Sewer District, the new civic center project, Library, Police Services or anything else your property tax may go for, simply sell your house and move to another community where the costs are less. End of discussion.

"If you don't like how much you're paying...move"

Love it or leave it. Got it. My, how Republican of you. I'm surprised you even have time to post: don't you have a Vietnam War counter-protest to attend?

:)


"you're paying to the Fire District, School District, Harbor District, Mosquito District, Water District, Sewer District, the new civic center project, Library, Police Services"

Strawman.

At no point in this discussion has there been complaints about the level of tax revenue that goes to schools, harbor, water, etc.

"At no point in this discussion has there been complaints about the level of tax revenue that goes to schools, harbor, water, etc."

Wrong, there have been numerous comments on this and other thread on these other tax allocations:
2) Schools

A huge amount of the property taxes go to schools. Are you getting your fair share? If not, you are likely providing them excess funds. Why not demand they REFUND part of your hard earned property taxes back to the town?

3) Hospital District, Mosquito District, Ambulance District, Sewer District, Water District and so on."


Are you getting your money's worth? Have you determined what you give them in relationship to what you get back?

I could go on and on. The fact is you may be "cutting off your nose despite your face". The Fire Service provides you excellent service. Are you willing to sacrifice that for a cheaper cost?"

********\******
How many Atherton residents have voted to appoint the Town Council as the overseer of their tax payments?

This is a concerted effort by a member of the Town's Finance Committee, the Town Manager and three of the five Council members to attempt to take money from the Fire District. The final Matrix report makes it clear that there is no way for the Town to accomplish that goal.