BILL NUMBER: SB 1617 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 24, 2008
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 9, 2008
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 27, 2008
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 24, 2008
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
prevention fees.
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, on or before July 1, 2009, to
adopt emergency regulations to establish a fire prevention fee of $50
to be charged on each structure on a parcel that is subject to
property taxes and is within a state responsibility area. The board
would be required to adjust the fire prevention fee annually using
the prescribed methods.
The bill would require that for each fiscal year after the 2009-10
fiscal year, the board charge the fire prevention fee of $50, except
as provided, only if there are not sufficient amounts of money in
the State Responsibility Area Fire Prevention Fund to finance the
costs of specified fire prevention activities for that fiscal year.
The bill would require the fire prevention fee to be included on
all secured property tax bills issued for the 2009-10 fiscal year and
for each fiscal year thereafter, as prescribed. Because the bill
would require local governments to collect the fire prevention fees
through annual secured property tax bills, as prescribed, a
state-mandated local program would be imposed.
This bill would require the fire prevention fee to include an
amount sufficient, as determined by the board, to reimburse each
county's actual and reasonable costs for levying and collecting the
fee consistent with a cost recovery agreement entered into between
the county and the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The
county would be authorized to retain that portion of the $50 fire
prevention fee the board authorized.
The bill would establish the State Responsibility Area Fire
Prevention Fund and would require the fire prevention fees collected
to be deposited into the fund, to be available, upon appropriation by
the Legislature, for certain specified fire prevention activities in
state responsibility areas and attributable to benefits conferred on
structures subject to the fire prevention fee, including, but not
limited to, recoupment of startup costs, and for the costs of
administration, as specified.
This bill would require the board, on and after January 1, 2011,
to submit an annual written report to the Legislature on the
status and uses of the fund specified topics .
This bill would permit a person from whom a fire prevention fee is
determined to be done due to use an
appeals process that would be established by the bill.
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 no .
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 PREVENTION FEES
Article 1. General Provisions
4210. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) Fire protection of the public trust resources on lands in the
state responsibility areas remains a vital interest to California.
Lands that are covered in whole or in part by a diverse plant
community prevent excessive erosion, retard runoff, reduce
sedimentation, and accelerate water percolation to assist in the
maintenance of critical sources of water for the environment
environmental , irrigation, domestic, or
industrial uses.
(b) The presence of structures within state responsibility areas
can pose an increased risk of fire ignition and an increased
potential for fire damage within the state's wildlands and
watersheds. The presence of structures within state responsibility
areas can also impair wildland firefighting techniques that could
result in greater damage to state lands caused by wildfires.
(c) The costs of fire prevention activities aimed at reducing the
exacerbating effects of structures in state responsibility areas
should be borne by the owners of these structures.
(d) Individual owners of structures within state responsibility
areas receive a disproportionately larger benefit from fire
prevention activities than that realized by the state's citizens
generally.
(e) It is the intent of the Legislature that the economic burden
of fire prevention activities that are associated with structures in
state responsibility areas shall be equitably distributed among the
citizens of the state who generally benefit from those activities and
those owners of structures in the state responsibility areas who
receive a specific benefit other than that general benefit.
(f) It is necessary to impose a fire prevention fee to pay for
fire prevention activities in the state responsibility areas that
benefit owners of structures in the state responsibility area.
(g) All revenues generated by state responsibility area fire
prevention fees imposed under this chapter 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. For the purposes of this chapter, "structure" means a
building that has a certificate of occupancy issued pursuant to
Section 9591 of the Health and Safety Code.
4212. (a) (1) By July 1, 2009, the board shall adopt emergency
regulations to establish a fire prevention fee for the purposes of
this chapter of fifty dollars ($50) to be charged on each structure
on a parcel that is subject to property taxes and is within a state
responsibility area.
(2) The Legislature finds and declares that this fire prevention
fee is a reasonable amount for the necessary fire prevention
activities that are appropriate and attributable to the presence of a
structure within a state responsibility area.
(b) On July 1, 2010, and annually thereafter, the board shall
adjust the fire prevention fees imposed pursuant to this chapter 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 third
quarter of the prior calendar year, as reported by the Department of
Finance.
(c) Emergency regulations adopted pursuant to subdivision (a)
shall be adopted in accordance with the rulemaking provisions of the
Administrative Procedure 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.
4213. (a) (1) A fire prevention fee, pursuant to Section 4212,
shall be included on all secured property tax bills issued for the
2009-10 fiscal year for all structures described in subdivision (a)
of Section 4212.
(2) The department shall transmit to the county auditor by August
10 the appropriate fire prevention fee to be assessed, as authorized
by this article, as a direct charge on the annual secured property
tax bills issued by the county for the 2009-10 fiscal year, and at
the same time the department shall provide to the county auditor a
contact telephone number for the board to be printed on the secured
property tax bill to respond to questions about the fee.
(b) For each fiscal year after the 2009-10 fiscal year, if there
are not sufficient amounts of money in the State Responsibility Area
Fire Prevention Fund to finance the costs of the programs under
subdivision (e) of Section 4214 for that fiscal year, the department
shall transmit to the county auditor by August 10 the appropriate
fire prevention fee to be assessed, as authorized by this article, as
a direct charge on the annual secured property tax bills issued by
the county, and at the same time the department shall provide to the
county auditor a contact telephone number for the board to be printed
on the secured property tax bill to respond to questions about the
fee.
(c) The board shall determine an amount sufficient to reimburse
each county's actual and reasonable costs for levying and collecting
the fee consistent with a cost recovery agreement entered into by the
department and each county.
(d) The fire prevention fee shall be collected by each county in
the same manner and at the same time as secured property taxes. The
county collecting the fee shall retain, from each fire prevention fee
collected, the amount authorized by the board pursuant to
subdivision (c).
(e) All laws relating to the levy, collection, and enforcement of
county ad valorem taxes apply to the fire prevention 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.
(f) A county auditor shall, in the same manner and at the same
time as secured property taxes are distributed in each county, remit
all fire prevention fees, except that portion retained pursuant to
subdivision (c), to the Treasurer for deposit in the State
Responsibility Area Fire Prevention Fund established pursuant to
Section 4214.
4213. For each fiscal year after the 2009-10 fiscal year, the
board shall charge a fire prevention fee of fifty dollars ($50),
except as provided in subdivision (b) of Section 4212, only if there
are not sufficient amounts of money in the State Responsibility Area
Fire Prevention Fund to finance the costs of the programs under
subdivision (e) of Section 4214 for that fiscal year.
4214. (a) Fire prevention fees collected pursuant to this chapter
shall be deposited into the State Responsibility Area Fire
Prevention Fund, which is hereby established in the State Treasury.
(b) Moneys in the fund shall be available to the board and
department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for fire
prevention activities specified in subdivision (e), in state
responsibility areas, attributable to benefits conferred on
structures subject to the fire prevention fee.
(c) The fund may also be used to cover the costs of administering
this chapter.
(d) It is the intent of the Legislature that the moneys in this
fund be fully appropriated to the board and the department each year
in order to effectuate the purposes of this chapter.
(e) Moneys in the fund shall be used only for the following fire
prevention activities relating to the presence of structures within
the state responsibility areas:
(1) Local assistance grants pursuant to subdivision (f).
(2) Grants to Fire Safe Councils, the California Conservation
Corps, or certified local conservation corps for fire prevention
projects and activities in the state responsibility areas.
(3) Grants to a qualified nonprofit organization with a
demonstrated ability to satisfactorily plan, implement, and complete
a fire prevention project applicable to the state responsibility
areas. The department may establish other qualifying criteria.
(3)
(4) Inspections by the department for compliance with
defensible space requirements around structures in state
responsibility areas as required by Section 4291.
(4)
(5) Public education to reduce fire risk in the state
responsibility areas.
(5)
(6) Fire severity and fire hazard mapping by the
department in the state responsibility areas.
(6)
(7) Recoupment of startup costs incurred over a period
not to exceed one year.
(7) Other prevention projects in the state responsibility areas,
(8) Other fire prevention projects in
the state responsibility areas, authorized by the board.
(f) (1) The board shall establish a local assistance
grants grant program for fire prevention
activities relating to the presence of structures within state
responsibility areas, including public education, that are provided
by counties and other local agencies, including special districts,
with state responsibility areas within their jurisdictions.
(2) The amount of each grant shall be based on the number of
structures in state responsibility areas for which the applicant is
legally responsible and the amount of moneys made available in the
annual Budget Act for this local assistance grant program.
(g) By January 1, 2011, and annually thereafter, the board shall
submit to the Legislature a written report on the status and uses of
the fund pursuant to this chapter. The written report shall also
include an evaluation of the effectiveness of the board's grant
programs, the number of defensible space inspections in the reporting
period, the degree of compliance with defensible space requirements,
measures to increase compliance, if any, and any recommendations to
the Legislature.
Article 2. Appeals Process
4220. A person from whom the fire prevention fee is determined to
be due under this chapter may petition for a redetermination of that
fee within 30 days after receipt of the secured property
tax bill charge . 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 fire prevention
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. If a petition for redetermination of the fire prevention
fee is filed within the 30-day period, the department shall
reconsider the fee determined to be due and make a determination in
writing. The department may eliminate the fee.
4223. Notice of the determination of the department pursuant to
Section 4222 shall be served, on the same date, to both the board and
the person who filed the petition.
4224. The order or decision of the department upon a petition for
redetermination of the fire prevention fee shall become final 30
days after service upon the petitioner of notice of the
determination.
4225. The fire prevention fee determined to be due by the
department under this article is due and payable at the time it
becomes final, and if it is not paid when due and payable, a penalty
of 10 percent of the fee 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. 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 it 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 fire prevention 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.