A group of academics and retired fire officials says it opposes a plan to levy a tax on property owners to pay for more fire services because it doesn't require hiring more firefighters.

The proposed parcel tax, which would generate about $50 million a year, is scheduled to be discussed at the Board of Supervisor's meeting Tuesday. If approved by the supervisors, the $52-per-parcel tax would be put on the ballot in November.

Officials say the parcel tax is needed to boost the region's fire services. The county recently approved a plan to merge a dozen rural fire agencies and increase its spending on fire resources from about $8 million a year to $15.5 million.

The proposed tax would be in addition to that money.

Officials say the additional money would allow local fire departments to hire more firefighters if needed.

But former San Diego fire Chief Jeff Bowman, a member of the group that opposes the plan, said the proposed tax falls far short of what the region needs.

He said the tax proposal would not mandate more professional firefighters, and that the ballot measure is likely to fail because there is not enough support for it.

"Until they come up with a complete plan, we believe that people are going to vote it down, and I don't blame them for it," Bowman said.

Bowman formed the San Diego Regional Fire Safety Forum after the 2007 wildfires, which burned about 368,000 acres and destroyed 1,750 structures, to educate the public about the threat of wildfires and the changes that are needed to prepare for them.

Wildfires in 2003 also burned hundreds of thousands of acres.

Bowman said the county should hire a consulting firm to study the region's fire needs and how to pay for them.

Steve Erie, a member of Bowman's group and a UC San Diego political science professor who specializes in public safety, agreed.

"The plan we have here isn't even getting us to first base," Erie said.

Other members of the forum include Rick Halsey, director of the Escondido-based California Chaparral Institute; Ron Saathoff, president of the San Diego city firefighters' union; Bill Hoffman, an Escondido resident and community activist; and Rick Fisher, a retired Carlsbad firefighter.

In February, the forum released a report calling for four more firefighting helicopters, 50 new fire engines and the consolidation of the numerous rural fire districts into a regional fire authority, such as the one in Orange County.

Earlier this year, the Board of Supervisors appointed a committee, headed by Supervisor Ron Roberts and San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders, to study the region's fire needs.

The committee developed the parcel tax proposal, which must be approved by two-thirds of the county's voters to pass.

Roberts' chief of staff, Jim Duffy, said Monday that the committee's plan, which would also form a regional fire authority similar to that of Orange County, is a "step in the right direction."

"The concept is that you have a regional authority that could become a fire service that could employ firefighters," Duffy said.

Half the money that would be raised by the parcel tax, about $25 million each year, would return to the communities where it is generated.

Duffy said fire departments could use the money to hire more firefighters if they so choose.

The joint fire authority would keep the other half of the revenue to pay for a regional firefighting air fleet and other resources.

Under the proposal, each parcel in the county would be taxed at least $52 a year. Parcels with larger buildings, such as high-rises, would be taxed an additional 1 cent for each square foot of space beyond 10,000 square feet.

Large parcels without structures also would be taxed $1 for every acre beyond 50. The parcel tax could not exceed $1,000 a year per lot.

The proposal sparked a rare, heated debate among the supervisors when they held their first hearing two weeks ago.

The board's discussion centered on questions about who would control the money: representatives of the backcountry, where most of the wildfires begin, or the cities, where most people live and where most of the revenue would be generated.

About 17 percent of the county's 3 million residents live in rural, unincorporated areas.

Two governing boards for the fire authority were proposed. One by Roberts, which gives cities most of the seats, and one by Supervisor Dianne Jacob, which gives the county and rural fire districts most of the seats.

Contact staff writer Edward Sifuentes at (760) 740-3511 or esifuentes@nctimes.com.