BILL ANALYSIS �
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| SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER |
| Senator Fran Pavley, Chair |
| 2013-2014 Regular Session |
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BILL NO: SB 125 HEARING DATE: April 23, 2013
AUTHOR: Gaines URGENCY: No
VERSION: As Introduced CONSULTANT: Bill Craven
DUAL REFERRAL: Rules FISCAL: Yes
SUBJECT: State responsibility areas: fire prevention fees.
BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW
1. In 2011, AB X1 29 directed the California Board of Forestry
and Fire Protection (Board) to assess a fee on structures in
state responsibility areas (SRAs) for the purpose of helping
defray the enhanced costs of fire suppression in wildland and
watershed areas that, over the years, became increasingly
populated and developed. From 2000-2010, for example, the number
of houses in SRAs grew by 16% according to census numbers.
AB X1 29 directs that the fire prevention fees must be deposited
in the SRA Fire Prevention Fund (Fund), which is available to
the Board and the California Department of Forestry (CDF) to
expend for fire prevention activities that benefit the owners of
structures within the SRAs who are required to pay the fire
prevention fee. These fire prevention activities are limited to
the following: (a) local assistance grants established by the
Board; (b) grants to Fire Safe Councils, the California
Conservation Corps, or certified local conservation corps for
fire prevention projects and activities in the SRAs; (c) grants
to a qualified nonprofit organization with a demonstrated
ability to satisfactorily plan, implement, and complete a fire
prevention project applicable to the SRAs; (d) inspections by
the department for compliance with defensible space requirements
around structures in the SRAs; (e) public education to reduce
fire risk in the SRAs; (f) fire severity and fire hazard mapping
by the Department in the SRAs; and (g) other fire prevention
projects in the SRAs that are authorized by the Board. The
amount expended to benefit the owners of structures within an
SRA shall be commensurate with the amount collected from the
owners within that SRA.
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2. State responsibility areas are those areas of the state
designated by the Board of Forestry where the State of
California is financially responsible for the prevention and
suppression of wildfires. SRAs do not include lands within city
boundaries or in federal ownership. The Board has on its website
a "viewer" that can identify whether a parcel is or is not
within a state responsibility area. SRA lands have important
watershed values for the entire state. On the other hand,
structural fire suppression is supposedly handled by local
agencies or by reimbursing CDF for its costs associated with
structural fire suppression. There are numerous agreements and
contractual arrangements that exist among fire agencies across
the state.
3. In a rulemaking procedure, the Board established an annual
rate of $150 per habitable structure, which is defined as a
building that can be occupied for residential use. Owners of
habitable structures who are also within the boundaries of a
local fire protection agency will receive a reduction of $35 per
habitable structure. The fee will be paid by approximately
800,000 landowners who own structures in state responsibility
areas.
4. According to the findings and declarations in AB X1 29 as
well as the regulations adopted by the Board, this fee will fund
a variety of important fire prevention services within the SRAs
including defensible space inspections around structures,
fuelbreaks for staging firefighting equipment, brush clearance
around communities, along roadways and evacuation routes; and
activities to improve forest health to improve resiliency to
wildfires.
5. An appeals process has been established for landowners who
wish to contest the fee. About 87,000 appeals have been filed.
6. CDF has asked the Board of Equalization for a delay in
sending out additional fire fee billing statements while some of
the appeals are resolved. The department has raised $73 million
from the fee and hopes to raise $89 million.
7. Some opponents of the fee contend that the delay was actually
caused by erroneous billings to owners of structures not in
SRAs, a claim disputed by the department.
8. The Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Organization has filed suit
against the state alleging that the fire prevention fee is a
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tax, not a fee.
9. CDF has stated that more than 95% of parcels in SRAs are also
in a local fire district.
PROPOSED LAW
This bill would exempt from the SRA fire fee established in AB
X1 29 owners of those habitable structures that are also within
the boundaries of a local fire district that provides fire
protection service in such district.
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT
According to the author, the fee is a tax and should have been
passed by a 2/3 vote.
El Dorado County states that this bill would benefit
approximately 66,000 parcels that are in both an SRA and a local
fire district. Sacramento County considers the bill an unfair
burden on local property owners. Nevada County believes it is a
tax and that it hinders the ability of local fire districts to
pass special tax increases.
California Professional Firefighters is concerned that there is
inadequate documentation of the services provided by the fee and
that it may impair the ability of local districts to initiate
assessments for those districts.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION
None received.
COMMENTS
1. This bill is practically identical to SB 17 which the
Committee did not approve and for which reconsideration was
granted at the April 9, 2013, hearing. While SB 17 would have
repealed the SRA fee entirely, this bill would repeal the fee on
more than 95% of the structures in SRAs, according to numbers
provided by CDF. SB 17 has been amended into an intent bill
that would declare the intent of the Legislature to repeal the
SRA fire fee and to add co-authors.
2. The comments on SB 17 are equally applicable here. The
committee may choose to consider this bill premature until the
lawsuit brought by Howard Jarvis Association is determined. The
committee may also wonder whether as a fiscal matter the loss of
these fee revenues, estimated at $80 million, is a reasonable
loss to CDF since it is not likely that these revenues could be
backfilled by restoring revenues from the state general fund.
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3. The chair communicated to the author that the bill could be
presented in committee as a courtesy to the author who is deeply
committed to this issue, but that no vote would be taken and the
bill would be held here.
4. Two bills that would repeal the SRA fee were approved in the
Assembly Natural Resources Committee on April 15, 2013. They are
AB 124 (Morrell) and AB 23 (Donnelly). Also, Assemblymember
Wesley Chesbro, who chairs that committee, has introduced AB 468
which would repeal the SRA fee and create a statewide emergency
response fund for fire, flood, earthquake, and other events
funded by a surcharge on all home insurance policies.
SUPPORT
County of El Dorado
County of Nevada
County of Sacramento
Central Coast Forestry Association
California Professional Firefighters
OPPOSITION
None Received
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