The Ripon Consolidated Fire District’s Proposition 218 Assessment election was voted down Thursday by property owners.

Needed were 50 percent votes plus one for enactment.

Prop. 218 received 54.19 percent ‘no’ votes, 45.9 percent ‘yes’ votes.

The ballots were tallied up following the RCFD board meeting.

Fire Chief Eric DeHart provided some preliminary numbers, which included:

·         2,017 ballots returned, reflecting a total of $567,399.66.

·         Of that, 1,075 were ‘no’ votes, representing $306,905.82.

·         The count for the ‘yes’ votes came up 942, representing $260,492.84.

If passed, Prop, 218 would have helped with staffing issues, including adding personnel to the unmanned Station 3 at North Ripon Road.

The Ripon City Council, meanwhile, will provide an update on RCFD Prop. 218 elections at Tuesday’s 6 p.m. open session in the Council Chambers, 259 N. Wilma Ave.

Since 2020, elected leaders and members of RCFD have held two-by-two committee meetings multiple times to discuss how best the City of Ripon can support the fire district – an independent, self-governing special district established in 1921, prior to the incorporation of the city of Ripon – to ensure that they’re able to continue to provide high level of services to residents and local businesses.

One such meeting consisted of attorneys specializing in municipal finance talking about options to increase the Fire District’s operating revenue – from that, the Prop. 218 Assessment was the preferred option.

For more information on the Council meeting, log on to www.cityofripon.org.