BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                    AB 1202


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          Date of Hearing:  April 27, 2015


                       ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES


                                 Das Williams, Chair


          AB 1202  
          (Mayes) - As Introduced February 27, 2015


          SUBJECT:  Fire prevention fee:  fee reduction


          SUMMARY:  Requires the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection  
          (Board) to reduce the amount of the fire prevention fee (fee) by  
          an amount equal to the amount paid to a local fire district  
          (district) for fire prevention.


          EXISTING LAW: 


          1)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 area" or "SRA").

          2)Declares that it is necessary to impose a fee to pay for fire  
            prevention activities in the SRA that specifically benefit  
            owners of structures in the SRA.

          3)Requires the Board to adopt regulations to establish the fee  
            in an amount not to exceed $150 (which must be adjusted every  
            year for inflation) to be charged on each "structure" on a  
            parcel that is within the SRA. Defines "structure" as a  








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            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). Defines  
            "owner of a habitable structure" as the person that is the  
            owner of record of a habitable structure in the county tax  
            assessor rolls or as recorded by the Department of Housing and  
            Community Development (HCD) on July 1 of the state fiscal year  
            for which the fee is due.

          4)Requires the fire prevention fees to be deposited in the State  
            Responsibility Area Fire Prevention Fund, which is available  
            to the Board and the Department of Forestry and Fire  
            Protection (CAL FIRE) to expend for fire prevention activities  
            that benefit the owners of structures within the SRA. Limits  
            fire prevention activities 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 SRA; c) grants to a qualified nonprofit  
            organization with a demonstrated ability to satisfactorily  
            plan, implement, and complete a fire prevention project  
            applicable to the SRA; d) inspections by CAL FIRE for  
            compliance with defensible space requirements around  
            structures in the SRA; e) public education to reduce fire risk  
            in the SRA; f) fire severity and fire hazard mapping by CAL  
            FIRE in the SRA; and, g) other fire prevention projects in the  
            SRA that are authorized by the Board.  

          5)Allows a person to petition CAL FIRE 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).

          6)Imposes a 10% penalty for each 30-day period in which the fee  
            remains unpaid after the fee becomes final. 









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          7)Allows the Board to exempt from the 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.



          THIS BILL:


          1)Requires the Board to reduce the amount of the fee to be  
            charged on a habitable structure by the amount equal to the  
            amount paid by the owner of the structure to a district for  
            fire prevention services during the year for which the fee is  
            due.


          2)Requires the owner of the structure to provide the Board with  
            written documentation of the amount paid to the district for  
            those services to receive the reduction.


          FISCAL EFFECT:  Unknown


          COMMENTS: 


          1)Author's statement.  
            
               Current practice provides a $35 reduction of the SRA  
               fee for any property also in a local fire protection  
               district, and a previous proposal (AB 2474, 2011-2012)  
               would have provided a dollar-for-dollar reduction of  
               the SRA fee based on the amount paid to a fire  
               protection district, regardless of the use of those  
               funds by the local district.









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               AB 1202 recognizes that the SRA fee was intended to  
               fund prevention activities that mitigate the risk of  
               wildfires caused by structures in the SRA, and thereby  
               provides a reduction in the SRA fee in the amount paid  
               to the local district for fire prevention services.  
               Property owners who are already paying a special tax  
               for these services at the local level should not also  
               have to pay for them at the state level.

          2)Background.  California's SRA covers over 31 million acres and  
            includes land in every county except San Francisco and Sutter.  
             CAL FIRE operates more than 200 fire stations within the SRA,  
            contracts with other firefighting agencies, and has a proposed  
            wildland fire protection budget of $1.5 billion for this  
            fiscal year. The fire protection budget includes, among other  
            things, fire prevention activities such as brush clearance,  
            defensible space inspections, fire breaks, and other measures  
            to reduce the cost of firefighting, property loss, injury to  
            firefighters, and damage to the environment.



            CAL FIRE's fire protection budget has seen a steady increase  
            over the years and is the largest budget in the Natural  
            Resources Agency. In 1996-97, CAL FIRE's fire protection  
            budget was $266 million. This increase has been attributed in  
            large part to the significant housing development at the  
            boundaries between wildlands and urban areas, the heightened  
            risk of catastrophic fires due to fire suppression activities  
            over the last century, and increased staff costs.

          3)Fire Prevention Fee.  In early 2011, the state was facing a  
            $26.6 billion budget deficit, 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 budget  
            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, ABX1 29 (Blumenfield), Chapter 8,  








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            Statutes of 2011-12 First Extraordinary Session, 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 General Fund cut to CAL  
            FIRE in the 2011 budget bill. The 2014-15 Budget appropriated  
            $76.3 million from SRA revenues to enhance statewide fire  
            prevention work including, for the first time, $10 million for  
            local assistance grants to be used in locations where the  
            effects of drought, fuel loading and structure development  
            converge.

          4)Local fire protection.  There are many different districts and  
            many of them charge the public for fire protection and  
            prevention.  District rates have a high degree of variance  
            with some less than the $35 reduction and some more than the  
            $150 fire fee. The fees assessed by districts can also be  
            assessed by parcel, single family, or by the use of the  
            parcel. Districts combine their fire protection and fire  
            prevention services in one fee.  In contrast, the SRA fee is  
            one set amount for the whole state, is charged by habitable  
            structure, and only covers fire prevention. AB 1202 allows the  
            owner to provide written documentation of what they pay to a  
            district to receive a reduction in their SRA fee. The author  
            and committee may wish to consider amending the bill to  
            require the Board to adopt guidelines to implement this  
            provision and clarify what written documentation should be  
            provided.  

          5)Prior legislation. AB 2474 (Chesbro, 2012) requires the Board  
            to reduce the amount of the fire prevention fee (fee) by an  
            amount equal to the amount paid to a local fire district. This  
            bill was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.



          REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:










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          Support


          California Association of Realtors


          California Fire Chiefs Association


          California Taxpayers Association 


          Central Coast Forest Association


          Fire Districts Association of California 


          Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association


          Mendocino County Board of Supervisors


          Morongo Valley Community Services District


          San Diego County Board of Supervisors


          Southwest California Legislative Council














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          Opposition


          None on file




          Analysis Prepared by:Michael Jarred / NAT. RES. / (916) 319-2092