Compared to a $2 million pie, $18,000 is just a sliver, but the Nevada County Consolidated Fire District wants that morsel as part of its annual operating budget.

Money is tight, Chief Tim Fike said Tuesday, "and $18,000 is some equipment or part of a firefighter. Every tiny bit helps us. You can buy a lot of diesel fuel for $18,000."

The district is trying to annex 8,145 acres of unincorporated land that long ago was mostly unpopulated and inaccessible.

In the 1950s, when many fire districts formed, Fike said, "It didn't dawn on anybody at the time to incorporate those areas into the fire districts. Now we're serving quite a few folks in those areas."

On Monday, the Nevada County Local Agency Formation Commission will hear protests about the proposed annexation.

The four areas proposed for annexation are:

-- Several parcels near Bragg Avenue, just outside Grass Valley and east of Alta Street

-- Along Greenhorn and Red Dog roads, southeast of Idaho-Maryland Road

-- Along Dog Bar Road east of Alta Sierra

-- Along Retrac Way west of Alta Sierra and Highway 49

Those areas have a combined 420 parcels with buildings or improved parcels, and 390 without buildings or unimproved parcels. If annexation is approved, the district would assess a $30 annual fee for improved parcels and $15 for unimproved parcels.

That would generate an estimated $18,450. The district would also receive less than $2,000 each year from property taxes, although that figure would gradually increase with new home construction, Fike said.

There has been little opposition so far.

LAFCO sent out 590 forms asking for feedback, and about 20 residents voiced opposition, clerk Katherine Hudson said.

Fike said out of 706 questionnaires sent out earlier, 132 respondents favored annexation, 24 opposed it, and 46 requested more information.

To force the issue to a vote, it would take a formal protest from 25 percent of registered voters in those areas or from landowners whose land comprises 25 percent of the area's total value.

To kill the proposal, it would take majority opposition in either category.

One opponent, Mildred Lefler, who lives off Retrac Way, said the district should get more of the tax dollar that residents are already paying to the county.

"I just feel it isn't quite fair," she said. But she suspected annexation will pass anyway.

Should it fail, Fike said, the fire district would consider charging a fee for service, which he called a costlier proposition.

"Thirty dollars is very cheap compared to $80 per hour for a fire engine, and you might need four of them to put out a house fire," he said.

Fike said several people have told him their insurance has been raised or canceled because they're not in the district.

Protesters have 30 days after Monday's hearing to file their protests.

Anyone who needs more information can call LAFCO at 265-7180.

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