Cohn Evades Moraga Tax Increase Question After Years of Urging Board to Raise It
At the recent MOFD candidate forum, Cohn questioned the Board's authority to change a tax he has repeatedly urged it to increase. He did not respond to SMARTMoraga's subsequent questions about the discrepancy.
At the October 6 MOFD candidate forum, Steve Cohn was asked whether the district's Board should change the Fire Flow Tax rates paid by Moraga and Orinda property owners.
His answer was surprising:
“Well, I'm not sure the board can change it. It was voted in by the voters, so I think the voters have to change it.”
Why surprising? Because Cohn has spent years explicitly urging that very Board to increase Moraga's Fire Flow Tax.
In a 2019 written submission to MOFD, Cohn argued that the Board could raise Moraga's rate from 6 cents to its voter-authorized maximum of 30 cents, generating approximately $2.1 million in additional annual revenue.
Most recently, in May 2025, Cohn submitted another written statement directly to the Board:
“Tonight you will, once again, set the rates for the Fire Flow Parcel Tax.”
He proceeded to explain the different voter-authorized rate limits and calculated that raising Moraga's rate to 30 cents would generate approximately $2.2 million annually, costing the average Moraga homeowner another $320 per year.
The MOFD Board has set Fire Flow Tax rates regularly since the district was established in 1997. Cohn has repeatedly urged the Board to increase Moraga's rate, including in written submissions acknowledging its authority to do so.
Yet when directly questioned at the candidate forum, he expressed uncertainty about whether the Board could change the tax at all.
Cohn also characterized the Fire Flow Tax's roughly $1 million in annual revenue as a relatively minor part of MOFD's finances, suggesting that its elimination would have little financial consequence for the district.
Following the forum, Cohn emailed SMARTMoraga in response to our earlier article about his candidacy.
In our reply, we asked him to reconcile his forum answer with his repeated written requests that the Board raise Moraga's Fire Flow Tax. We also asked why he characterized the tax as insignificant after repeatedly advocating an increase.
Cohn did not respond to either question.
