County executive to recommend taking fee to November ballot

County Executive Pete Kutras announced Tuesday that the county will not pursue implementation of the Emergency Response and Disaster Preparedness Fee approved in January. The county's action is in response to a decision issued by the Court of Appeal, First Appellate District (San Francisco) on April 29 in Bay Area Cellular Telephone Co., et al vs. City of Union City. The decision held that the charge imposed by the city on telephone lines to fund the city's 911 emergency communication system was a special tax that must be approved by two-thirds of the voters in the city. The city's 911 system and fee is similar to the fee adopted by the county.

In January, the county Board of Supervisors approved the establishment of an Emergency Response and Disaster Preparedness Fee, designed to recover costs for services used by residents in Santa Clara County, including annual costs for disaster planning and preparation and the emergency communications fee for 911 call answering, law enforcement dispatching, fire dispatching, ambulance dispatching, pre-arrival medical instruction, disaster preparedness, and backup 911 call answering.

"In light of the Appeal Court decision we have two options," Kutras said. "We can wait until the case goes to the state Supreme Court, which may take 18 to 24 months for a conclusion, or take the matter to the voters in November."

Kutras indicated that he will return with a number of revenue generating options to the Board of Supervisors on June 3, and that his recommendation will be to place an Emergency Response and Disaster Preparedness Fee measure on the ballot for Santa Clara County voters in November.