El Dorado County is moving forward with a potential ballot measure to further fund snow removal services in the unincorporated areas near Meyers and South Lake Tahoe.

As proposed, a special tax of $80 on each improved parcel of land would replace the existing $20 assessment for snow removal services in the areas under the south shore snow removal zone. The measure would go on the March 2020 primary ballot.

The measure would generate approximately $544,000 annually for snow removal services.

A potential failed measure would result in “the continuation of the existing, inadequate funding level for the zone and a continued decline in snow removal services as equipment ceases to operate,” according to an item brought to the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors Tuesday.

About 54 percent of South Lake Tahoe/Meyers area residents are satisfied with their snow removal services, according to a survey from the Oakland-based consulting group FM3 Research. Just 13 percent said they were “very” satisfied.

The survey found that 74 percent of county residents thought that there was some or a great need for additional snow removal funding. About 64 percent of participants indicated that they were likely to support the measure after being presented with a potential ballot question, the data showed. 

The current $20 service fee was established in 1983 and hasn’t increased since. In 2005 a measure that would have increased the service charge on each improved parcel in the zone to $50 failed to garner a two-thirds majority.