Articles of Incorporation (PDF, 1 MB)
Original Bylaws, February 12, 1973 (PDF, 2.9 MB)
Amended Bylaws, November 20, 2003 (PDF, 4.6 MB)
Amendment to Articles of Incorporation, November 14, 2016 (PDF, 450 KB)
Confirmation of 501(c)(3) status, August, 2017 (PDF, 249 KB)

Resolution 2152, May 6, 1993 (PDF, 597 KB)  LAFCO resolution creating CSA 40 and removing fire protection from CSA 6.

Resolution 2169, September 2, 1993 (PDF, 899 KB) LAFCO resolution, dissolves CSA 6, among many other things.

Full Packet, Documents Related to CSA 40 Formation (PDF, 7.2 MB)

1973

TSRVFD, Inc. was incorporated in 1973 as a nonprofit corporation  under the laws of the State of California and is tax exempt under the  provisions of Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code.  The purpose of TSRVFD was to provide fire and emergency protection for The Sea Ranch area.

Also in 1973, Sonoma County formed County Service Area No. 6 (CSA6) to serve as a medium for providing some real property generated tax revenues back to The Sea Ranch area.  These funds were used to acquire fire fighting equipment to be used by TSRVFD as well as fund the annual contract with the California Division of Forestry and Fire Protection (now known as CAL FIRE).

1973 – 1976

Some time during this time period, at the request of the property owners of The Sea Ranch, the Board of Supervisors agreed to increase the special assessment rate from the generally utilized rate of $.03 per hundred of assessed valuation up to $.17 per hundred of assessed valuation.  The purpose of the requested increase was to insure that The Sea Ranch area had access to sufficient tax revenues to pay for the expenses of providing fire protection services by CalFire and TSRVFD.

1978

In 1978 the citizens of the State of California passed Proposition 13, which resulted in a major shift in the real property taxation activities of the State and Counties.  As a result of Proposition 13, the special assessment for fire protection previously in place was replaced by a new formula under which CSA 6 received 0.192235 percent of the total Proposition 13 tax rate.  Thus The Sea Ranch owners ceased paying the special assessment  above the Proposition 13 mandated ceiling of 1% property tax rate.

Subsequent legislation (Assembly Bill 8) modified the allocation of the 1% “proposition 13” tax dollars, and created the Special District Augmentation Fund (SDAF), which eventually was replaced by the Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund (ERAF).  The calculations used for the SDAF seem to be the origin of our huge and punitive loss of funds to ERAF.

1992-1994:  Implementation of the Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund  (ERAF).  Please click the ERAF link for more details.  This has resulted in a significant portion of the local fire protection funds being shifted elsewhere.

1993

In 1993, in order to attempt to centralize the administration of providing of fire services throughout the county, the Board of Supervisors decided to merge the various county service areas (including CSA 6) into a new county service area designated as CSA 40.  Under the provisions of the Local Agency Formation Commision (LAFCO) and Board of Supervisors’ resolutions regarding the merger of CSA 6 into CSA 40, all funds that would have been allocated for CSA 6 were to be transferred to CSA 40 to be utilized for the benefit of “Zone 6” (Fire Service –  Sea Ranch) of CSA 40.

1994

In May 1994, the Board of Supervisors adopted a policy requiring all zones of benefit to participate in financing basic fire service costs, as do the non-zone areas within CSA 40, via existing property taxes at 3 cents per $100 assessed valuation.  In other words, 3% of the 1% “proposition 13” property taxes, of the tax rate areas in CSA 40, go to CSA 40 overhead.

2016

On April 1, 2016, after years of effort, an independent North Sonoma Coast Fire Protection District was formed! This put all of the funds previously under the control of CSA 40 in local hands.

2017

The Sea Ranch Volunteer Fire Department, Inc. changed their classification from a 501(c)(4) to a 501(c)(3), and changed their name to the North Sonoma Coast Volunteer Firefighter Association.