With the fate of a sales tax increase still about seven months away, the Grass Valley City Council is scheduling a special meeting about providing more immediate augmentation of its fire department. At their meeting Tuesday night, they tabled a staff request for one-time use of General Fund reserve money, of 400-thousand dollars. Fire Chief Mark Buttron says that would fund up to seven seasonal firefighters for six months. It could also provide another fully-staffed fire company. Buttron does point out that current staffing is adequate. But the funding would provide more flexibility…

click to listen to Chief Buttron

Buttron also points out that Grass Valley Fire routinely responds to fires and other emergencies outside the city limits…

click to listen to Chief Buttron

But Buttron says the proposed half-percent sales tax increase would need to pass in March to make additional staffing permanent. The three-million dollars in annual revenue from the measure would also help increase vegetation management efforts, among other related projects. The measure, along with the funding request, will be the focus of the special meeting, which doesn’t have a scheduled date yet. After that, the Council will likely make a final decision on the funding request at their regular September 12th meeting.