BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1202
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Date of Hearing: May 13, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
AB
1202 (Mayes) - As Amended May 5, 2015
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill requires the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection
(Board) to reduce the amount of the fire prevention fee (SRA) by
an amount equal to the amount paid to a local fire district for
fire prevention in the state responsibility areas.
AB 1202
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Additionally, this bill requires the Board to adopt guidelines
to clarify the type of written documentation the owner of a
structure is required to provide in order to receive the fee
reductions.
FISCAL EFFECT:
1)Significant reduction in fire prevention fee revenues,
potentially in the tens of millions of dollars annually (SRA
Fire Prevention Fund).
The Board of Equalization (BOE) estimates approximately 98% of
structures subject to the feeare located in an area that
provides local fire protection services. This bill will
likely result in partial fee reduction, at least, for nearly
all structures subject to the fire prevention fee, which would
substantially diminish the $76.9 million in fee revenue CAL
FIRE anticipates in 2015-16.
2)General Fund pressure of an unknown amount, potentially in the
tens of millions of dollars, in 2015-16 to fund fire
prevention activities at CAL FIRE and the California
Conservation Corps (CCC) that otherwise would be funded by the
fire prevention fee.
3)Unknown administrative costs, potentially in the hundreds of
thousands of dollars,for the Board to adopt guidelines to
implement the program.
COMMENTS:
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1)Purpose. According to the author, 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. This bill provides a reduction in the
SRA fee in the amount paid to local districts.
2)Background. The state is responsible for wildland fire
protection in the SRA which are generally defined to include
most nonfederal timberlands, rangelands and watersheds thinly
populated and not within the boundaries of a city. Over 31
million acres, much privately owned, are located in SRA. In
the past, SRA lands were largely unpopulated. In recent
years, however, local governments have allowed increased
housing development in SRA but at a level of density that
maintains the state's obligation to provide wildland fire
protection.
As housing development in SRA increased, so did state fire
protection costs. In 1996-97, the department spent $475
million on fire protection; in more recent years, CALFIRE's
annual fire protection costs neared or surpassed $1 billion.
The Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) attributes much of the
increase in CALFIRE's fire protection costs to increased
housing development in SRA. The LAO notes that as housing
development in SRA has increased, the department has spent
greater resources responding to events other than wildfires
for which the state is not legally responsible, such as
structural fires and medical emergencies. Because the LAO
concludes that much of CALFIRE's nonwildfire activities
provide private benefits, LAO has long recommended a fee on
owners of private land in SRA to pay for a portion of
CALFIRE's fire protection costs.
3)SRA Fire Protection Fees. In 2011 the Legislature passed ABx1
AB 1202
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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. According to the Board of
Equalization website, approximately 98% of habitable
structures in the SRA are covered by a local fire protection
agency resulting in most bills amounting to $117.33 per
habitable structure.
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
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Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Galehouse / APPR. / (916)
319-2081