The Finance Committee work dominated the last Idyllwild Fire Protection District’s commission meeting. Besides reviewing financial reports and appointing a new citizen alternate to the committee, the commission plans to schedule a joint meeting or workshop with the committee before mid-January. Finance Committee Chair and Commissioner Nancy Layton requested the joint meeting because “the committee…

Riverside County’s property assessments continue to grow. The 2019-20 total county assessed property value is $302.8 billion, a 5.9% increase from FY 2018/19’s total value of $286 billion.  This is the seventh consecutive year that property values have increased since they bottomed in 2012-13 at $204.9 billion following the recession. That year was the fourth…

Local fire officials changing The Mountain Area Safety Taskforce held its first meeting of 2019, Wednesday April 10. Attendance was slightly less than normal, due to the current road closures from Hemet and Banning. Several new faces were at the front table. Cal Fire Division Chief Bill Weiser ran the meeting in the absence of…