Sutter Co. seeks to quell confusion over survey

Sutter County officials are attempting to dispel any confusion surrounding an ongoing survey that some in the community may have thought was related to the city of Yuba City.

According to the county, the survey is attempting to gather input about budget priorities, which includes fire services.

Because of this, the county said

Yuba City officials have been getting questions about whether a fire station in the city might close in the future.

“None of the fire stations inside the city limits of Yuba City or Live Oak are the subject of our survey,” Sutter County Administrator Steve Smith said in a statement. “Sutter County operates fire stations in unincorporated areas of the County as well as under contract for the City of Live Oak. The City of Yuba City operates all the fire stations within its city limits.”

The county said a recent Grand Jury report showed that county fire safety systems are underfunded and in need of significant additional support. Officials with the county said this is a result of decisions made by the state and that “increasing needs for basic safety and public services have put the county in a difficult financial position.”

With protection that spans about 250 square miles of Sutter County, including the Sutter Buttes, the

Sutter County Fire Department was formed in 1996 after departments at Live Oak, Oswald-tudor, and Sutter were consolidated.

The county said the department is funded by an assessment on property owners within the defined boundaries of County Service Area

F.

“In the past two years, however, the Board of Supervisors has made $2.4 million in emergency allocations from County General Fund revenues to forgive a loan for building the fire station in Sutter, purchase two fire engines, fund additional firefighting positions, fund general operating expenses, and purchase additional personal protective equipment for fire fighters,” the county said.

At the beginning of Fiscal Year 2022/23, which begins July 1, the County Service Area F budget will have a deficit of more than $862,000, the county said. Because of this, additional county General Fund dollars were requested to close the gap.

According to the county, the County General Fund cannot afford to continue subsidizing ongoing fire operations that will cause negative monetary impacts on other community services.

“This is not what anyone wants to hear or have to say, but we may need to make cuts to these services, or cut some basic local public safety, road repair, and homelessness prevention services,” Smith said. “That’s the purpose of this survey. We want to continue to plan properly for our local community and safety needs well into the future. We’re asking community members to help us by taking the survey and communicating their priorities. Those priorities will be presented to the Sutter County Board of Supervisors.”

To take the online survey, visit www.suttercounty.org/community/ feedback.