BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                     AB 301


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          Date of Hearing:  April 22, 2015


                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS


                                 Jimmy Gomez, Chair


          AB  
          301 (Bigelow) - As Amended April 15, 2015


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          Urgency:  No  State Mandated Local Program:  NoReimbursable:   


          SUMMARY: 


          This bill requires Cal Fire to notify owners of habitable  
          structures subject to the fire prevention fee that when selling  
          the property, they may negotiate the apportionment of the annual  
          fee with the buyer as one of the terms of the sale.








                                                                     AB 301


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          FISCAL EFFECT:


          Minor, absorbable costs for Cal Fire to modify the annual bill.


          COMMENTS:


          1)Purpose.  According to the author, if a habitable structure  
            changes ownership, the owner of the structure on July 1 must  
            pay the entire fee for the year. AB 301 allows the parties  
            subject to a property sale to negotiate and pay only the  
            portion of the fee agreed upon based on the time of ownership.  

          2)Background.  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 CALFIRE fire prevention  
            activities.  In January 2012, the board issued its regulation,  
            establishing a fee of $150 per habitable structure on a parcel  
            located within SRA, with a $35 reduction 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 SRA received a disproportionately  
            larger benefit from fire prevention activities than realized  
            by the state's residents generally.  

            As required by law, the fee was adjusted for inflation and is  
            currently $152.33 per habitable structure outside a fire  
            protection district and $117.33 for habitable structures  
            within a fire protection district.










                                                                     AB 301


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          3)Related Legislation.  AB 203 (Obernolte) extends the deadline  
            to file a petition for redetermination of the SRA fire  
            prevention fee from 30 to 60 days. This bill is currently on  
            suspense in this Committee.



          Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Galehouse / APPR. / (916)  
          319-2081