Councilman Richard Silverman wants to make it clear that if someone buys a home in the City of Manteca they should expect the same level of fire service that existing residents do.
That’s why he wants his colleagues on the Manteca City Council to adopt a policy saying just that at a future council meeting.
Silverman’s concerns center around the proposed annexation of the 333.4 acre Griffin Park project planned for 1,532 homes in South Manteca west of South Main Street and south of Woodward Avenue. Silverman brought the issue up during Tuesday’s Manteca City Council meeting.
The land is currently part of the Lathrop Manteca Fire District that maintains a small rural fire station nearby on South Union Road south of Nile Avenue.
In the past Manteca has negotiated deals lasting 5 to 15 years with fire districts where land was being detached from in order to be annexed to the city to put a diminishing property tax sharing arrangement in place. Such deals have been made with the Ripon Consolidated Fire Department when the 1,050-acre Austin Road Business Park.
Silverman was concerned about talk that has been circulating that Lathrop Manteca Fire District might refuse to allow the land to be detached.
By not doing so it could also result in a double taxation of sorts. Regardless of the property tax split with San Joaquin County that is in place regarding the city’s share of property tax from future development, having Lathrop Manteca Fire provide fire protection would mean homeowners would pay the special district tax for the fire district on top of the city property taxes.
The City of Manteca and Lathrop Manteca Fire departments currently operate under a “first response” agreement. That means the closet engine to a call — whether it is a City of Manteca or Lathrop Manteca Fire engine — is dispatched. Typically that brings units from the Lathrop Manteca Fire station at Austin and Lathrop roads into the City of Manteca east of Highway 99 as the closest first responder.
The two departments also have a mutual aid agreement.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com