BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 124
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Date of Hearing: May 1, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 124 (Morrell) - As Introduced: January 14, 2013
Policy Committee: Natural
ResourcesVote:6-2
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill repeals the fire prevention fee on structures located
in State Responsibility Areas (SRA) as of January 1, 2014.
FISCAL EFFECT
Fee revenue loss of approximately $90.7 million in 2013-14 (SRA
Fire Prevention Fund). These fees fund fire prevention
activities at the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
(CAL FIRE) or through local assistance grants and efforts by the
California Conservation Corps (CCC).
COMMENTS
1)Purpose. According to the author, this bill is intended to
ensure that those persons subject to the fire prevention fee
are not taxed a second time for services provided locally.
2)Background . The state is responsible for wildland fire
protection in State Responsibility Areas (SRA), which are
generally defined to include most nonfederal timberlands,
rangelands and watersheds thinly populated and not within the
boundaries of a city. Over 31 million acres, much privately
owned, are located in the SRA. In the past, SRA were largely
unpopulated. In recent years, however, local governments have
allowed increased housing development in the SRA but at a
level of density that maintains the state's obligation to
provide wildland fire protection.
As housing development in the SRA increased, so did state fire
protection costs. In 1996-97, the department spent $475
AB 124
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million on fire protection; in more recent years, CAL FIRE's
annual fire protection costs neared or surpassed $1 billion.
The Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) attributes much of the
increase in CAL FIRE's fire protection costs to increased
housing development in the SRA. The LAO notes that as housing
development in SRA has increased, the department has spent
greater resources responding to events other than wildfires
for which the state is not legally responsible, such as
structural fires and medical emergencies. Because the LAO
concludes that much of CAL FIRE's nonwildfire activities
provide private benefits, it has long recommended a fee on
owners of private land in the SRA to pay for a portion of CAL
FIRE's fire protection costs.
3)Legislative Intent. In 2011 the Legislature passed ABx1 29
(Blumenfield), requiring the Board of Forestry and Fire
Protection to adopt emergency regulations to establish a fire
prevention fee. The fee, not to exceed $150 on each structure,
was to raise $50 million to fund CAL FIRE fire prevention
activities. In January 2012, the board issued its regulation,
establishing a fee of $150 per habitable structure on a parcel
located with the SRA, with a $35 exemption for each habitable
structure that is also within the boundaries of a local agency
that provides fire protection services. Revenues from the fee
are to be used exclusively for fire protection.
In authorizing the fee, the Legislature recognized that
individual owners within the SRA received a disproportionately
larger benefit from fire prevention activities than realized
by the state's residents generally.
4) Previous Attempts to Enact a Fee. The Legislature has made
several attempts at imposing such a fee. In 2003, the budget
bill included a $35 fee on the owner of each parcel of land
within the SRA. Many expressed concern that the per-parcel
fee failed to reflect the greater fire protection benefit
received by those who own larger parcels of land. The
following year, before the fee was collected, the Legislature
passed another bill repealing the fee. Other fire fee bills
were introduced in subsequent years, but ultimately failed in
the Legislature.
5) Related Legislation. This bill identical to AB 23
(Donnelly) which is also in the Appropriations Committee.
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Analysis Prepared by : Jennifer Galehouse / APPR. / (916)
319-2081
.