Millbrae to redo fire fee vote

The Millbrae City Council expressed frustration around the failed fire fee assessment vote, which would have raised the current fire assessment by 72% to keep pace with inflation. Councilmembers asked for direct communication with commercial and mixed-use property owners whose no votes contributed to the outcome, they said at a March 12 meeting.

Councilmember Gina Papan said that the property owner of the development at the BART station voted no, which “weighed heavily on the outcome” due to a weighted vote that established its ballot as equal to 289 single-family housing units. The Gateway at Millbrae Station — a 44,000-square-foot mixed-use transit development located at the BART and Caltrain connection — is owned by developer Republic Urban Properties.

“There must be a direct strategy against who is reached out to,” Papan said. “For the public’s information, this is the kind of election where we know exactly who voted yes and who voted no.”

City Manager Tom Williams said that the city has been in communication with the developer to emphasize the significance of the fire assessment fee, which contributes around $1.6 million to providing essential fire services and keeping 911 response times under seven minutes.

“We have a great public-private partnership with Republic Urban. The city is supportive of them, they are supportive of the city,” he said. “[With] further communication on the importance of the assessment, they have indicated they will support it.”

Republican Urban representatives could not be reached for comment.

About 36% of applicable parcel owner voters submitted a ballot, with 1,303 yes votes and 1,147 no votes, Williams said previously. Although 53% of voters were in favor, the assessment failed because votes are weighted based on asset valuation of property. Ballot submission ended Feb. 27.

Other councilmembers, including Angelina Cahalan and Maurice Goodman, also expressed concern that a majority of outreach was targeted at residents, not at commercial or mixed-use owners who might have had a greater impact on the vote.

“It’s more of our commercial property owners that had a greater impact on the vote and the results, the modifications are more geared toward our household residents,” Cahalan said. “What kind of feedback did we hear from our commercial residents, are there things we can do in that area?”

Mayor Anders Fung suggested that the city could also work with the school district to garner support for the assessment as it did not vote on the issue.

But re-doing the assessment during tax season isn’t ideal for the city, councilmembers warned.

“You’re going out in April, it’s tax time, it’s really going to be much more difficult,” Papan said. “There are so many other taxes that are being proposed throughout the region, throughout the state here. I’m extremely disappointed.”