BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2048
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 2048 (Dahle, et al.)
As Amended August 4, 2014
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |77-0 |(May 27, 2014) |SENATE: |33-0 |(August 19, |
| | | | | |2014) |
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Original Committee Reference: NAT. RES.
SUMMARY : Amends the statutes governing the fire prevention fee
by, among other things, clarifying who should pay the fee,
exempting an owner of habitable structures from paying the fee
if the structure was destroyed by natural disaster, and reducing
the penalty for untimely fee payments.
The Senate amendments make technical, clean up amendments.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
(CAL FIRE), which, among other things, is responsible for the
fire protection, fire prevention, maintenance, and enhancement
of the state's forest, range, and brushland resources,
contract fire protection, associated emergency services, and
assistance in civil disasters and other nonfire emergencies.
2)Creates, within CAL FIRE, the State Board of Forestry and Fire
Protection (Board) consisting of nine members appointed by the
Governor. Requires the Board to protect the state's interest
in forest resources on private lands, which includes
establishing adequate forest policy and determining general
policies for CAL FIRE.
3)Requires the Board to classify all lands within the state for
the purpose of determining areas in which the financial
responsibility of preventing and suppressing fires is
primarily the responsibility of the state (these areas are
known as "state responsibility areas" or "SRA.")
4)Requires the Board to adopt regulations to establish a fire
prevention fee in an amount not to exceed $150 (which must be
adjusted every year for inflation) to be charged on each
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"structure" on a parcel that is within the SRA. Defines
"structure" as a building used or intended to be used for
human habitation, including a mobile home or manufactured
home. Reduces the fire prevention fee by $35 if the structure
is also within the boundaries of a local agency that provides
fire protection services (this reduction applies to most
structures).
5)Requires the fire prevention fees to be deposited in the State
Responsibility Area Fire Prevention Fund (SRA Fund), which is
available to the Board and CAL FIRE to expend for fire
prevention activities that benefit the owners of structures
within the SRA who are required to pay the fire prevention
fee.
6)Allows a person to petition for a redetermination of whether
the fire prevention fee applies to him or her within 30 days
after being served with a notice of determination (i.e., the
notice from CAL FIRE stating that a person must pay the fire
prevention fee). Requires the petition to be sent to CAL
FIRE, the Board, and the Board of Equalization (BOE).
7)Imposes a 20% penalty for each 30-day period in which the fee
remains unpaid after the fee becomes final.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill:
1)Authorized (rather than requires) the Board to adjust the
fire prevention fee for inflation.
2)Authorized the Board to exempt from the fire prevention
fee any habitable structure that is subsequently deemed
uninhabitable as a result of a natural disaster during
the year for which the fee is due, as well as one
subsequent year if the habitable structure has not been
repaired or rebuilt.
3)If a petition for redetermination of the fire prevention
fee is filed after the expiration of the 30-day time
period, authorized CAL FIRE to treat the untimely
petition as an administrative protest or claim for refund
if it determines that the facts presented indicate that
the fire prevention fee originally determined may have
been excessive or that the amount or the application of
the fee may have been the result of an error by CAL FIRE
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or the Board.
4)Eliminated the 20% penalty for each 30-day period in
which the fee remains unpaid after becoming final and
replaces it with the state's general 10% penalty that
applies to late payments of fees.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee:
1)Unknown revenue loss (SRA Fund) due to the fee relief for
natural disasters, potentially in the range of $20,000 to
$140,000 annually. Any loss in SRA Fund that brings revenues
below expenses will have to be backfilled by the General Fund
(GF).
The 2014-15 SRA fees are $117.33 for structures within a local
fire protection district and $152.33 for structures not within
a local district. Assuming between 100 and 500 structures are
damaged per year for each type of structure, the revenue loss
would range from $11,733 to $58,666 for structures within a
district and $15,233 to $76,165 for structures outside a
district.
2)Revenue loss (SRA Fund) in the $100,000 range for reducing
penalties from 20% to 10%.
3)Unknown potential revenue loss for inflation adjustments at
the Board's discretion.
COMMENTS : Fire Prevention Fee (AB 29 X1 (Blumenfield), Chapter
8, Statutes of 2011-12 First Extraordinary Session). Going into
2011, the state was facing a $25.4 billion budget deficit (which
grew to $26.6 billion after the governor cancelled the sale of
several state buildings) and an annual structural deficit of up
to $21.5 billion was projected into the future. In March 2011,
the Legislature passed $13.4 billion in "solutions" (consisting
mostly of spending cuts) to address the deficit; however, there
was still a shortfall of $10.8 billion. To help address the
budget shortfall, the Legislature passed, among other bills, AB
29 X1, which required the Board to adopt emergency regulations
to establish a "fire prevention fee" not to exceed $150 for each
structure on a parcel that is within the SRA. The fee was
intended to fill a hole created by a $50 million GF cut directed
at CAL FIRE in the 2011 Budget Bill. It has been well
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documented in news articles and political colloquy that the
Legislature was compelled to establish the fee because it had to
produce substantial GF cuts, and other budget options, such as
increasing revenues through additional sales and income taxes,
were politically infeasible due to the two-thirds vote
requirement for such measures.
Inflation Adjustment. Under existing law, the Board is required
to increase the fire prevention fee every year for inflation.
For fiscal year 2013-14, the fee is $152.33. This bill would no
longer mandate this inflation adjustment; instead, it will be
left to the Board's discretion.
Natural Disaster Exemption. This bill exempts a person from
paying the fire prevention fee for two years if his or her
habitable structure becomes uninhabitable as a result of a
natural disaster. Even after those two years, if the structure
is still uninhabitable, the fee can be waived for not being a
"habitable structure," which is a term defined by this bill.
Appeals. Under existing law, a person may appeal a fire
prevention billing notice through a petition for a
redetermination if that petition is filed within 30 days of
receiving the notice. This bill gives CAL FIRE the
authorization to also consider appeals filed after the 30 day
period expires. Additionally, this bill only requires a person
to send the petition to one agency (CAL FIRE) instead of three
(under existing law, a petition must be sent to CAL FIRE, the
Board, and BOE).
Penalties. Under existing law, a person is subject to a 20%
penalty for each 30-day period in which the fee remains unpaid
after the fee becomes final. In practice, this penalty has only
been applied if a person appeals the fee through a petition for
redetermination. If CAL FIRE denies the petition for
redetermination and the person does not pay the fee, the 20%
penalty will apply for each 30-day period during which the fee
remains unpaid. According to a report from the BOE, if a person
does not appeal but fails to pay the fee on time, a 10% penalty
is applied pursuant to Section 55086 of the Revenue and Taxation
Code (a code section regarding fees in general). This bill
eliminates the 20% penalty and instead applies the 10% penalty
to all late payments
According to the BOE staff, for fiscal year 2011-12, the state
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collected $71,872 attributable to the 20% penalty. In fiscal
year 2012-13, the state collected $2,528.37 from the penalty.
Analysis Prepared by : Mario DeBernardo / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092
FN: 0005074