By Damin Esper
Contra Costa Times
ALBANY, Calif. — Albany voters will be asked to approve a cost of living increase on a parcel tax that funds paramedics in the Nov. 2 election. Measure P would allow the city council to approve an annual increase to the current parcel tax funding paramedic services equal to the Consumer Price Index.
Mayor Joanne Wile signed the ballot argument in favor of Measure P.
“I just feel real strong about this particular measure,” she said. “Albany is one of the few cities that arrive at the home they were called to and actually deliver them to the hospital. We’re also one of the few cities with a response time under four minutes.”
Albany voters approved Measure N in November, 2000, creating the parcel tax with a flat rate of $18 per unit. Inflation has eroded the buying power of that rate, according to Albany Fire Chief Marc McGinn.
“You can see 10 years later, $18 is no longer $18,” McGinn said. “The CPI over that time averaged 2.6 percent (in the San Francisco Bay Area). That would equate to 53 cents a year.”
McGinn added that if inflation over the next 10 years matched that of the past 10 years, the tax would be just over $23 in 2020.
The measure needs a two-thirds majority to pass.
The original parcel tax funded what is known as Advanced Life Support. Instead of having Emergency Medical Technicians respond to calls, who have 110 hours of training according to McGinn, the city was willing to pay extra to have paramedics respond. Paramedics average 1,500-2,000 hours of training, according to McGinn. He said currently 15 of the 18 emergency responders are paramedics.
According to the ballot argument in favor of Measure P, “most other fire departments respond to 911 calls and then turn patients over to a private ambulance company for transport.”
No argument against the measure was filed.
Council member Robert Lieber said Measure P is important to keep the response time of Albany’s emergency teams down.
“If we don’t support this tax we might have that go up,” he said. “It’s pretty cheap.”
As for the difficulty in getting voters to support a tax measure in trying economic times, McGinn said to look at the city’s track record.
“The city of Albany has been really judicious in managing the taxpayers’ money,” he said. “I’ve been in this position for 15 years. As far as I’m concerned, there’s been no frivolous spending.”
Copyright 2010 Contra Costa Newspapers