BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1642
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Date of Hearing: March 14, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Das Williams, Chair
AB 1642
(Obernolte) - As Introduced January 11, 2016
SUBJECT: State responsibility areas: fire prevention fees
SUMMARY: Extends the deadlines to either pay the state
responsibility area (SRA) fire prevention fee (fee) or file a
petition for redetermination of the fee from 30 days to 60 days.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Requires the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection (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.
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, and allows the Board to
adjust the fee every year for inflation. Requires the fee to
be charged on each "structure" on a parcel that is within the
SRA. Defines "structure" as a building used or intended to be
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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. 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. Requires the Board of Equalization (BOE) to
collect the fee.
4)Requires the fee 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 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 fee).
6)Imposes a 10% penalty 30-days after the BOE's date of
assessment for the fee.
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FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS:
1)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 $1.8 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 the 1996-97 fiscal year, 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.
2)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 assist in addressing the budget shortfall, the
Legislature passed, among other bills, ABX1 29 (Blumenfield),
Chapter 8, 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
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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 fee generates
around $80 million a year in revenues, which is used to
enhance statewide fire prevention work, including local
assistance grants. Recent local assistance grant awards have
focused on responding to the tree mortality crisis in
California where 29 million trees have died. The local
assistance grants help locals reduce wildfire and tree fall
risks near homes in high tree mortality areas.
3)Collection Issues. The author claims that many homeowners
have expressed concern that the 30-day period does not allow
them sufficient time to pay or dispute the fee. The author
believes that a 60-day period to pay or dispute the fee would
allow sufficient time for those residents to review their
assessments and account for any delays. According to the BOE,
approximately 70% of fee payers pay the fee within the 30 days
and 10% of fee payers pay between 31 to 60 days. This bill
would save the 10% of fee payers who pay between 31 to 60 days
the 10% penalty assessed to late accounts. Petitions for
Redetermination have declined from over 100,000 in 2011-12
fiscal year to around 30,000 in 2014-15 fiscal year of which
11% were successful. There are approximately 10 % of fee
payers that have not paid the fee any of the four years it has
been collected. Almost $40 million in fees remain
uncollected. Additional time may be warranted for paying the
fee or appealing it. It may also be appropriate to take steps
to collect the $40 million in fees that are unpaid and to use
those funds to address the tree mortality crisis California is
facing.
4)Prior Legislation.
AB 2048 (Dahle, Chesbro, and Gordon), Chapter 895, Statutes of
2014, among other things, reduces the penalties for unpaid
fees and simplifies the appeals process.
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SB 1413 (Wyland, 2014) was almost identical to this bill and
was held in Assembly Appropriations.
AB 203 (Obernolte, 2015) contained the same provisions as this
bill, and was placed on the inactive file on the Assembly
floor.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Sen. George Runner, Member, State Board of Equalization
(Sponsor)
Apple Valley Fire Protection District
California Association of Realtors
California Fire Chiefs Association
California Taxpayers Association
Central Coast Taxpayers Association
Del Norte County Board of Supervisors
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Fire Districts Association of California
Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association
Inyo County Board of Supervisors
Lake County Board of Supervisors
Mariposa County Board of Supervisors
Mendocino County Board of Supervisors
Placer County Board of Supervisors
Plumas County Board of Supervisors
Rural County Representatives of California
Russian River Fire Protection District
Sacramento Taxpayers Association
San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors
San Diego County Board of Supervisors
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Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors
Tehama County Board of Supervisors
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by:Michael Jarred / NAT. RES. / (916) 319-2092