BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE GOVERNANCE & FINANCE COMMITTEE
Senator Lois Wolk, Chair
BILL NO: AB 2048 HEARING: 6/25/14
AUTHOR: Dahle FISCAL: Yes
VERSION: 6/17/14 TAX LEVY: No
CONSULTANT: Grinnell
STATE REESPONSIBILITY AREA FIRE FEE
Enacts several changes to the fire prevention fee.
Background and Existing Law
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
(CALFIRE) provides wildland fire protection on non-federal
lands outside cities. To meet this duty, the State Board
of Forestry and Fire Protection designates the State
Responsibility Area (SRA) every five years. In 2010, the
Legislature imposed the fire prevention fee on owners of
structures in state responsibility areas to pay for the
state's costs of protecting SRAs against fires, and
directed the State Board of Equalization (BOE) to collect
it in accordance with the state's Fee Collection Procedures
Law (FCPL) (ABx1 29, Blumenfield). The fee totals $152.33
per structure in 2014, and is due and payable 30 days from
the date of assessment from BOE. A 20% penalty applies for
each 30 days that pass without payment.
While BOE collects the fee, CALFIRE determines who must pay
the fee, and the fee amount: the State Board of Forestry
issues regulations, including emergency regulations, to
implement the fee, but BOE can neither redetermine the fee,
nor accept a claim for refund unless the determination has
been set aside by CALFIRE, or a court reviews CALFIRE's
determination. Currently, owners of structures in SRAs can
petition for redetermination within 30 days after service
of notice of determination; after that, the amount becomes
final. If the owner petitions for redetermination within
the 30-day period, CALFIRE must make a determination in
writing, and can eliminate the fee if it finds the fee
doesn't apply. The author wants to change the fire fee in
several ways to improve administration, and ease the
compliance burden on taxpayers.
AB 2048 - 6/17/14 -- Page 2
Proposed Law
Assembly Bill 2048 changes the SRA Fee to:
Enact in statute the definition for "owner of a
habitable structure," and "habitable structure" to
conform with CALFIRE Regulations. The modified
definition includes structures with dwelling units
that can be occupied for residential use, instead of
the current definition's standard that a building only
need be intended to be used for human habitation,
Modifies the definition for "person," to use
terminology consistent with BOE practices under the
FCPL,
Permits CALFIRE to adjust the SRA Fee rate for
inflation, instead of current law's requirement,
Clarifies that the fee is levied on the owner of
the habitable structure in an SRA as of July 1st of
each year,
Allows the Board of Forestry to exempt from the fee
a habitable structure rendered uninhabitable as a
result of a natural disaster during the year of the
disaster, and one more year if the owner hasn't
rebuilt it or repaired it, provided:
o The owner certifies the structure is
uninhabitable,
o The owner certifies that the habitable
structure passed a CALFIRE defensible space
inspection within one year of the natural
disaster,
The Board of Forestry must create an exemption
form,
Updates a reporting requirement,
Allows CALFIRE to treat a petition for
redetermination filed after the current 30-day period
as an administrative protest or claim, if it
determines that the facts presented indicate the fee
may be excessive or imposed in error. CALFIRE must
review these petitions in the same manner as a timely
filed petition.
Effective January 1, 2015, eliminates the recurring
penalty on amounts already due, and reduces the
penalty from 20% to 10% for future unpaid fees,
Makes conforming changes.
AB 2048 - 6/17/14 -- Page 3
State Revenue Impact
According to BOE, Assembly Bill 2048 results in revenue
loss of $97,688.
Comments
1. Purpose of the bill . According to the author, "AB 2048
will clarify certain definitions in current statute along
with other clarifying changes including bringing the
existing 20% penalty in line with the 10% standard penalty
charged by Board of Equalization. Most importantly it will
allow for a homeowner who loses their home due to a natural
disaster to be able to file with the Department to be
exempt from paying the fee if their home is deemed
uninhabitable. This is very important not only to people
in my District where there were 68+ homes lost in the
Clover Fire, but to all homeowners across the state."
2. Of trees and forests . Earlier this year, the Committee
approved AB 1413, which extends the time period that
property owners have to pay the fire prevention fee from 30
to 60 days. The measure also extends the time period for
property owners to request redetermination from CALFIRE
from 30 to 60 days, and makes a conforming change. That
measure is currently in the Assembly Committee on Natural
Resources.
3. You say goodbye, I say hello . The SRA Fee has been
controversial since enactment, with several legislative
efforts to repeal, reduce, or modify the fee stalling in
committee for policy reasons. The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers'
Association filed a lawsuit in 2012 challenging that the
fee is indeed a tax, and is invalid because the Legislature
approved ABx1 29 by majority vote, not 2/3 vote as required
by Section 3 of Article XIIIA of the California
Constitution. Courts have not yet made a ruling on the
lawsuit.
Assembly Actions
Assembly Floor 77-0
Assembly Appropriations 17-0
Assembly Natural Resources 9-0
AB 2048 - 6/17/14 -- Page 4
Support and Opposition (06/19/14)
Support : California Department of Forestry and Fire
Protection; California Farm Bureau Federation; California
Forestry Association; California State Firefighters'
Association; California Taxpayers Association; County of
Nevada, State of California, Board of Supervisors.
Opposition : None received.