BILL NUMBER: SB 1617	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 21, 2008
	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 1, 2008
	AMENDED IN SENATE  MARCH 24, 2008

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Kehoe

                        FEBRUARY 22, 2008

   An act to add Chapter 1.5 (commencing with Section 4210) to Part 2
of Division 4 of the Public Resources Code, relating to public
resources.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 1617, as amended, Kehoe. State responsibility areas:
fire-related benefit fees. 
   (1) Existing law requires the state to have the primary financial
responsibility for preventing and suppressing fires in areas that the
State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection has determined are state
responsibility areas.  
   This bill would require the board to adopt emergency regulations
to establish a benefit fee for fire-related services to be charged to
an owner of a building or structure within a state responsibility
area. The base benefit fee would be based, among other things, on the
fire hazard severity zone in which the building or structure is
located, and include an amount sufficient to cover each county's
costs for levying and collecting the benefit fee. The Department of
Forestry and Fire Protection would be required to update the base
benefit fee every 2 years. The bill would specify the amount of the
minimum benefit fee to be imposed and the criteria by which it could
be eliminated.  
   The board would be required to establish criteria for benefit fee
reductions for an owner of an individual structure, including, but
not limited to, certain prescribed fire risk reduction guidelines for
the owner and the county where the property is located. The benefit
fees, including the minimum benefit fees, would be eliminated within
a county if the board determines that there is sufficient structural
fire protection and prevention and other emergency services already
provided by a county, special district, or a volunteer fire
department, or the county has contracted to provide fire protection
services in the state responsibility area. The benefit fees would
also be eliminated for an owner if the department determines the
improvements to the land do not require fire protection services
beyond those provided to otherwise wildlands.  
   This bill would require that for property tax bills for the year
2010-11, if the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, upon
inspection, finds a structure exists that would require structural
fire protection services beyond those provided to otherwise
wildlands, the department would be required to notify the county to
have the appropriate benefit fee included in the annual property tax
bill. If, upon inspection, the department finds that the lands do not
include a structure that requires fire protection services beyond
those provided to otherwise wildlands, the department would be
required to notify the county to remove the benefit fee from the
property tax bill.  
   The bill would require local governments to collect the benefit
fees, as prescribed, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program.
The bill would also require the board to increase the amount of the
benefit fees collected through property tax bills, in an amount to
cover the county's costs for levying and collecting the benefit fees.
The county would be authorized to retain the portion of the benefit
fee authorized by the board.  
   The bill would create the State Responsibility Area Fire
Protection and Prevention Fund and would require the benefit fees
collected to be deposited in the fund, to be available, upon
appropriation by the Legislature, for structural fire protection and
prevention activities and other emergency services attributable to
the presence of structures in state responsibility areas, and for the
administration of this act. At least 50% of the moneys appropriated
would be required to be allocated to fire prevention activities that
benefit owners of structures in state responsibility areas. 

   (2) This bill would permit a person disputing the benefit fees
imposed on his or her real property to use an appeals process that
would be established by the bill.  
   (3) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.  
   This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.  
   (1) Existing law requires the state to have the primary financial
responsibility for preventing and suppressing fires in areas that the
State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection has determined are state
responsibility areas.  
   This bill would require the board to adopt emergency regulations
to establish a fee for fire-related services to be charged to an
owner of a building or structure within a state responsibility area.
The fee would be based on the fire hazard severity zone in which the
building or structure is located, and include a specified amount to
cover the county's costs for levying and collecting the fee. The bill
would specify the minimum fees to be imposed. The fee for an owner
would be reduced if the owner complies with certain requirements. The
fees also would be reduced communitywide by an amount set by the
board if the board determines that the appropriate local land use
authority has met certain conditions. The fees would be eliminated
communitywide if the board determines that there is sufficient
structural fire protection service already provided by a county or
special district, and the fees would be eliminated for an owner if
the department determines the improvements to the land do not require
fire protection services beyond those provided to otherwise
unimproved land.  
   This bill would require that property tax bills for the year
2009-10 issued for all lands in the state responsibility areas that
have improvements valued at $100,000 or more include the appropriate
minimum fire protection and prevention benefit fee established by the
board. For property tax bills for the year 2010-11, if the
Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, upon inspection, finds a
home or structure exists that would require structural fire
protection services beyond those provided to otherwise unimproved
lands, the department would be required to notify the county to have
the appropriate benefit fee included in the annual property tax bill.
This would be retroactive to the 2009-10 tax year. If, upon
inspection, the department finds that the improved lands do not
include a building or structure that requires fire protection
services beyond those provided to otherwise unimproved lands, the
department would be required to notify the county to remove the
benefit fee from the property tax bill.  
   The bill would require local governments to collect the benefit
fees, as prescribed, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program.
The bill would also require the board to increase the amount of the
benefit fees collected through property tax bills, in an amount to
cover the county's costs for levying and collecting the benefit fees.
The county would be authorized to retain the portion of the fee
authorized by the board.  
   The bill would create the State Responsibility Area Fire
Protection and Prevention Fund and would require the fees collected
to be deposited in the fund, to be available, upon appropriation by
the Legislature, for fire prevention and suppression activities and
support of the board in those activities within the applicable state
responsibility area, with a priority on activities that improve fire
prevention and fire risk reduction. At least 50% of the moneys
appropriated would be required to be allocated to fire prevention
activities.  
   The bill would require that the fees collected be adjusted yearly
to reflect the percentage of change in the average annual value of
the Implicit Price Deflator for State and Local Government Purchases
of Goods and Services for the United States, as calculated by the
United States Department of Commerce for the 12-month period in the
3rd quarter of the prior calendar year, as reported by the Department
of Finance, and that the fees not exceed the reasonable cost of
covering the county's cost of collection and of providing
fire-related services to an owner of a building or structure in an
applicable state responsibility area.  
   (2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.  
   This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   SECTION 1.    Chapter 1.5 (commencing with Section
4210) is added to Part 2 of Division 4 of the   Public
Resources Code   , to read:  
      CHAPTER 1.5.  STATE RESPONSIBILITY AREA FIRE-RELATED BENEFIT
FEES



      Article 1.  General Provisions


   4210.  The Legislature finds and declares the following:
   (a) Fire protection of the public trust resources on lands in the
state responsibility areas remains a vital interest to the state.
Lands covered in whole or in part by a diverse plant community
prevent excessive erosion, retard runoff, reduce sedimentation, and
accelerate water percolation to maintain critical sources of water
for the environment, irrigation, domestic, or industrial uses.
   (b) The presence of homes and other structures within state
responsibility areas poses an added burden to the state's
firefighting resources, the incremental cost of which should be borne
by the owners of these homes and structures.
   (c) Individual owners of structures within state responsibility
areas receive a disproportionate benefit, that is greater than that
realized by the state's citizens generally, from fire prevention and
suppression services provided by the state.
   (d) In most cases, local firefighting entities are available to
provide structural fire protection and prevention and other emergency
services that are attributable to the presence of structures within
state responsibility areas. It is not the intent of the Legislature
to substitute the state's firefighting capability for these existing
services or to supplant them. However, these local entities often do
not possess sufficient equipment, personnel, and other necessary
resources to meet the demand placed upon them, and the state must at
times provide additional firefighting resources to protect
structures.
   (e) It is the intent of the Legislature that the economic burden
of general fire prevention and suppression associated with wildlands,
structural fire protection and prevention, and other emergency
services that are attributable to the presence of structures in state
responsibility areas be equitably distributed among the citizens of
the state who generally benefit from those activities and those
landowners who receive a specific benefit other than that general
benefit.
   (f) It is necessary to impose a benefit fee based upon the fair
and reasonable value of the specific benefit received by landowners
within state responsibility areas. Furthermore, the fire hazard
severity zone level where a structure is located, maintenance of
defensible space, proximity to fire stations, structural community
investments that serve a structure, compliance with the most current
version of the California Building Standards Code with respect to
materials and construction methods for exterior wildfire exposure,
and compliance with fire prevention-related planning laws constitute
a fair and reasonable relationship to the benefits received from the
structural fire protection and prevention and other emergency
services that are attributable to the presence of structures.
   (g) Imposition of benefit fees is necessary to provide structural
fire protection and prevention and other emergency services that are
attributable to the presence of structures and to maintain the
ability to provide state assistance under various mutual aid
arrangements.
   (h) All revenues generated by state responsibility area
fire-related benefit fees imposed under this article, and used for
the purposes for which they are imposed, are not proceeds of taxes
subject to Article XIII B, C, or D of the California Constitution.
   4211.  (a) (1) For all property tax bills issued commencing with
the 2010-11 fiscal year, if, upon inspection pursuant to Section
4119, the department finds that a structure exists that would require
fire protection services beyond those provided otherwise to
wildlands, the department shall notify the county auditor to have the
appropriate benefit fee included as a direct charge in the annual
property tax bill.
   (2) If, upon inspection pursuant to Section 4119, the department
finds that the lands do not include a structure that requires fire
protection services beyond those provided to otherwise wildlands, it
shall notify the county auditor to remove the benefit fee from the
property tax bill.
   (b) (1) On or before July 1, 2009, the board shall adopt emergency
regulations to establish a benefit fee to be charged to any owner of
a structure within a state responsibility area. The benefit fees
shall be developed in consultation with the department and the Office
of the State Fire Marshal.
   (2) The emergency regulations adopted pursuant to paragraph (1)
shall be adopted in accordance with the Administrative Procedures Act
(Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3
of Title 2 of the Government Code). The adoption of emergency
regulations shall be deemed an emergency and necessary for the
immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety, or
general welfare.
   (c) The benefit fee shall be established consistent with
subdivision (d) at a level that bears a fair and reasonable
relationship to the fire-related structural fire protection and
prevention and other emergency services that are attributable to the
presence of structures within a state responsibility area.
   (d) The board shall calculate the benefit fee charged to the owner
of a structure subject to this article as follows:
   (1) A base benefit fee shall be established based on the fire
hazard severity zone level, as determined by the board pursuant to
Section 4202, proximity to fire stations, and other criteria that may
be determined by the board, with respect to where the structure is
located.
   (2) The benefit fee shall include an amount sufficient to
reimburse each county's actual and reasonable costs for levying and
collecting the benefit fee consistent with a cost recovery agreement
entered into by the department and each county.
   (e) The board shall update the base benefit fee established in
paragraph (1) of subdivision (d) at least every two years.
   (f) (1) The board's regulations shall include criteria by which an
owner of a structure shall qualify to receive a reduction in the
base benefit fee established in paragraph (1) of subdivision (d) by
meeting guidelines that reduce the structure's potential fire risk.
Compliance with the criteria shall be determined by the department,
after an inspection performed pursuant to authority granted by
Section 4119.
   (2) The base benefit fee established in paragraph (1) of
subdivision (d) shall not be reduced below a minimum of one hundred
dollars ($100), except as provided in subdivision (g).
   (3) The board shall establish criteria for benefit fee reductions
for an owner of an individual structure, which shall include, but are
not limited to, fire risk reduction guidelines in the following
categories:
   (A) Maintenance of defensible space around the building or
structure, as required by Section 4291.
   (B) The extent of compliance with the most current version of the
California Building Standards Code with respect to materials and
construction methods for exterior wildfire exposure (Chapter 7A
(commencing with Section 701A.1) of Title 24 of the California Code
of Regulations) through new construction or retrofit of an existing
structure.
   (C) The county is in compliance with fire prevention-related
planning laws, including Section 65302.5 of the Government Code, in
regard to the safety element of the county's general plan.
   (D) Structural community investments that serve the structure,
including, but not limited to, emergency water sources, multiple
escape routes, fuel breaks, fuel reduction projects, and turnaround
points for fire engines, exist to assist with fire response.
   (4) The reductions described in paragraph (3) shall be reviewed
annually unless otherwise specified in the board's regulations.
   (g) (1) (A) The benefit fee charged to an owner of a structure
within a county shall be eliminated if the board determines that
there is sufficient structural fire protection and prevention and
other emergency services that are attributable to the presence of
structures already being provided by a county, special district, or
volunteer fire department directly or through a contract. For the
purposes of determining the adequacy of service by a local agency,
the board shall consider, at a minimum, emergency service training,
access to high fire hazard areas, and ordinances for vegetation fire
hazard reduction. The board may also utilize criteria by which it
reviews the safety elements of general plans pursuant to Section
65302.5 of the Government Code.
   (B) A county that has contracted to provide fire protection
services pursuant to Sections 4129 and 4133 in state responsibility
areas may be exempt from the benefit fee so long as the state is not
paying for the structural fire protection and prevention and other
emergency services that are attributable to the presence of
structures at the same level provided under subparagraph (A) of
paragraph (1) of subdivision (g).
   (2) A local agency may request a review of the sufficiency of
their structural fire protection at any time, and the board shall
review the request at its next regularly scheduled meeting. If a
local agency requests more than one review in any given year, the
board may charge a review fee.
   4212.  (a) The department shall notify the county auditor by
August 10 of each year to have the benefit fee included as a direct
charge in the annual secured property tax bills issued by the county,
and at the same time the department shall provide to the county a
telephone number for the board to be printed on the secured property
tax bill.
   (b) The benefit fee shall be collected by each county in the same
manner and at the same time as secured property taxes. The county
collecting the benefit fees may retain the portion of the benefit fee
authorized by the board pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (d)
of Section 4211.
   (c) All laws relating to the levy, collection, and enforcement of
county ad valorem taxes apply to the benefit fees imposed pursuant to
this article, except that if any real property to which the lien
would attach has been transferred or conveyed to a bona fide
purchaser for value, or if a lien of a bona fide encumbrancer for
value has been created and attached to the real property, prior to
the date on which the first installment of those taxes would become
delinquent, then the lien that would otherwise be imposed by this
section shall not attach to that real property, and the cost bill
relating to that real property shall be transferred to the unsecured
roll for collection.
   4213.  A county auditor shall, in the same manner and at the same
time as secured property taxes are distributed in each county, remit
all benefit fees, except that portion retained pursuant to Section
4212, to the Treasurer for deposit in the State Responsibility Area
Fire Protection and Prevention Fund established pursuant to Section
4214.
   4214.  (a) Benefit fees collected pursuant to this article shall
be deposited into the State Responsibility Area Fire Protection and
Prevention Fund, which is hereby created in the State Treasury.
   (b) (1) Moneys in the fund shall be available, upon appropriation
by the Legislature, for structural fire protection and prevention and
other emergency services that are attributable to the presence of
structures in state responsibility areas, which services benefit
owners of structures in those state responsibility areas and for the
administration of this chapter.
   (2) At least 50 percent of the moneys appropriated from the fund
shall be allocated to fire prevention activities.
   4215.  Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the
benefit fee charged pursuant to this article shall not exceed the
fair and reasonable cost of covering the county's cost of collecting
the benefit fee and of state-provided structural fire protection and
prevention and other emergency services that are attributable to the
presence of structures in a state responsibility area. The benefit
fee shall bear a fair and reasonable relation to the fire prevention
and suppression services provided to that owner.
   4216.  For the purposes of this article, "structure" means a
building that has a certificate of occupancy issued pursuant to
Section 9591 of the Health and Safety Code.

      Article 2.  Appeals Process


   4220.  A person from whom the benefit fee is determined to be due
under this chapter may petition for a redetermination of that benefit
fee within 30 days after receipt of the secured property tax bill.
If a petition for redetermination is not filed within the 30-day
period, the amount determined to be due becomes final at the
expiration of the 30-day period.
   4221.  Each petition for redetermination of the benefit fee shall
be in writing and be sent to both the department and the board. The
petition shall state the specific grounds upon which the petition is
founded and include supporting documentation. The petition may be
amended to state additional grounds or provide additional
documentation at any time prior to the date that the department
issues its order or decision with regard to the petition for
redetermination.
   4222.  (a) If a petition for redetermination of the benefit fee is
filed within the 30-day period, the department shall reconsider the
amount determined to be due and make a determination in writing.
Notice of the determination shall be served, on the same date, to
both the board and the person who filed the petition.
   (b) Within 30 days of being served with the notice of the
determination by the department, a second appeal may be filed with
the board, and the board shall grant the petitioner an oral hearing
and shall give him or her 10 days notice of the time and place of the
hearing. The board may continue the hearing from time to time as may
be necessary.
   4223.  The department, in the case of the first appeal, or board,
in the case of a second appeal, may decrease or increase the amount
of the determination before it becomes final, but the amount may be
increased only if a claim for the increase is asserted by the
department or the board at or before the hearing.
   4224.  (a) The order or decision of the department upon a petition
for redetermination of the benefit fee shall become final 30 days
after service upon the petitioner of notice of the determination if
it has not been appealed to the board.
   (b) The order or decision of the board upon a petition for a
second redetermination of the benefit fee shall become final 30 days
after service upon the petitioner of notice of the determination.
   4225.  All benefit fees determined to be due by the board under
this article are due and payable at the time they become final, and
if not paid when due and payable, a penalty of 10 percent of the
amount determined to be due shall be added to the amount due and
payable.
   4226.  Written notice required by this article shall be served as
follows:
   (a) The notice shall be placed in a sealed envelope, with postage
paid, addressed to the petitioner at his or her address as it appears
in the records of the department or the board. The giving of notice
shall be deemed complete at the time of the deposit of the notice in
a United States Post Office, or a mailbox, subpost office,
substation, mail chute, or other facility regularly maintained or
provided by the United States Postal Service without extension of
time for any reason.
   (b) In lieu of mailing, a notice may be served personally by
delivering to the person to be served and service shall be deemed
complete at the time of delivery. Personal service to a corporation
may be made by delivery of a notice to any person designated in the
Code of Civil Procedure to be served for the corporation with summons
and complaint in a civil action.
   4227.  A dispute regarding the benefit fee imposed by this chapter
shall be resolved pursuant to this article only, and not by the
local secured property tax appeals process. 
   SEC. 2.    No reimbursement is required by this act
pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution because a local agency or school district has the
authority to levy service charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to
pay for the program or level of service mandated by this act, within
the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code.  All
matter omitted in this version of the bill appears in the bill as
amended in the Senate, April 1, 2008 (JR11)