In its meeting on Tuesday, the San Luis Obispo board of supervisors voted unanimously to begin the process for assuming responsibility of fire protection services for Oceano.
Oceano is part of the Five Cities Fire Authority, and costs of fire protection in the city has skyrocketed over the years. Oceano voters previously rejected two separate ballot measures in 2020 and 2022 that would attempt to generate funds for fire services. The board of supervisors directed staff on Tuesday to design a plan that will maintain the Five Cities Fire Authority’s current level of service to Oceano.
County administrative analyst Mia Trevelyan said contracting with the FCFA would cost the county about 1.8 million dollars per year, with just a little under 1.3 million of those funds coming from Oceano’s property tax revenue. The remaining funds would have to be provided from the county’s general fund. Though the board considered contracting Cal Fire to provide services to Oceano, supervisor Jimmy Paulding said contracting with the FCFA provides the right level of service.
