by Matt Shobert, Murrieta Fire Chief
My name is Matt Shobert and I am the Fire Chief for the Murrieta Fire Department (MFD). I have been your fire chief for the past 18 months.
MFD was formed prior to the incorporation of the city and has a dedicated property tax charge. That charge is separate from the property tax that accrues to the City’s general fund and can only be used for the fire department. Unfortunately, in Murrieta, because we had so many homes and businesses developed during the “housing bubble”, we have suffered a tremendous decline in property tax revenues, roughly 24%, both to the City’s general fund and to the Fire Department. This is nearly a quarter of the fire department’s revenue.
And, because so many of those homes have gone through foreclosure and re-sold at a fraction of their original price, it will be many, many years before we are receiving the same level of property tax revenue we did just 3 or 4 short years ago. Because the City did not incorporate until after Proposition 13, we do not receive any Proposition 172 funds. Similarly, because we did not operate ambulances prior to 1980, we do not have 201 (patient transport) rights. Both of those would have enabled the City and Fire Department to generate sufficient revenues to meet our current needs.
But, we do not have those funds and we have had to reduce expenses considerably. Our reductions have come largely at the expense of fire administration. We did this to ensure that we kept as many operational (firefighting) personnel out in the community as possible, so that we can continue to provide the highest possible level of service to our citizens. Our Fire Department administrative staff consists of me the Chief and a receptionist. We have no Deputy Chief, no Division Chiefs, no Fire Marshal… (I am also MFD’s Fire Marshal).
Additionally, our firefighters have already agreed to salary and benefits concessions; they are again “back at the table” considering additional salary and benefit concessions to help maintain emergency services for our community. In the past few years, we have reduced MFD personnel by six positions, cut programs, reduced training, suspended or delayed purchases and aggressively and successfully pursued grant funding opportunities.
Are there further reductions we can make? Yes, but they come at the expense of emergency service delivery to our community. Does the new Paramedic Subscription Program address all our financial needs? No, but it will help. Without this program, we are looking at a fire station closure in our community.
The newly proposed Paramedic Subscription Program is designed to maintain the health, safety and welfare of our city. Many Southern California Cities adopted this program a decade ago. The cost of the subscription program is $4 per month ($2 for low income); it is also strictly voluntary.
If you would like to meet with me, or tour MFD, please do not hesitate to call or email me at: 951.304-3473 or mshobert@murrieta.org. I would be happy to answer any questions you may have.