Unincorporated areas hit with fire protection fee
Unincorporated areas hit with fire protection fee
06 December 2012
published by www.toacorn.com
USA — Homeowners in unincorporated areas of Ventura County will be receiving bills for a new state-imposed fire prevention fee starting this week.
In accordance with Assembly Bill X1 29, signed by the Legislature in July 2011, about 8,000 parcels in the countys State Responsibility Area (SRA) will be levied $115 a year per habitable structure on the property.
The SRA includes state and privately owned forest, watershed and rangeland outside city boundaries.
The new fee is intended to provide a stable source of funding for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire), which is responsible for protecting Californias privately owned wildlands.
Dennis Mathisen, a spokesperson for Cal Fire, said the fees will replace lost revenue. In 2011-12, the state cut about $85 million from Cal Fires budget, he said. The new fees are expected to net between $85 and $89 million.
But in Ventura County, Cal Fire contracts with the Ventura County Fire Department to provide these services, and VCFD opposes the new fee.
We believe residents living within the SRA and within the jurisdiction of our department are already paying for fire protection and prevention, Fire Chief Mark Lorenzen said. In addition, weve managed our budget very carefully, and we dont require the funds being collected under this fee to provide these services to Ventura County residents.
The $115-per-structure fee would have been greater if not for the fact that the area is already covered by VCFD. In parts of the state not already covered by a local fire agency, homeowners will be paying $150 per structure to Cal Fire.
County homeowners already pay for fire protection through their property taxes, Lorenzen said.
Also opposing the fee is the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. The anti-tax group is seeking to overturn the law because it believes the imposed fee meets the definition of a tax, which requires two-thirds legislative approval, and the fee was enacted with only a majority vote.
If the association wins its case, the charges will be refunded to property owners, Lorenzen said.
The fees collected by the State Board of Equalization will go toward Cal Fires budget, which is spent on fire prevention activities such as the countys fire hazard reduction and weed abatement programs, the chief said.
Cal Fire can also issue grants to counties for local fire prevention services.
Mathisen said the fees will benefit the people who are served by Cal Fire.
We understand everyones concerns, Mathisen said. Cal Fire as well as the Board of Equalization are in a position of having to implement the governors directives. We appreciate the ability to provide fire prevention services, and this will help support that effort.
The failure was in the forest areas.Advertisement
Following a 10-year strategy, ACT fire managers have created a mosaic across the landscape of different fuel levels, burning at every opportunity.
But forests have been too wet to burn this spring and the past two summers.
Read more:http://www.canberratimes.com.au/environment/red-alert-for-high-risk-of-fires-20121118-29koa.html#ixzz2CmafUgo3
The failure was in the forest areas.Advertisement
Following a 10-year strategy, ACT fire managers have created a mosaic across the landscape of different fuel levels, burning at every opportunity.
But forests have been too wet to burn this spring and the past two summers.
Read more:http://www.canberratimes.com.au/environment/red-alert-for-high-risk-of-fires-20121118-29koa.html#ixzz2CmafUgo3
The failure was in the forest areas.Advertisement
Following a 10-year strategy, ACT fire managers have created a mosaic across the landscape of different fuel levels, burning at every opportunity.
But forests have been too wet to burn this spring and the past two summers.
Read more:http://www.canberratimes.com.au/environment/red-alert-for-high-risk-of-fires-20121118-29koa.html#ixzz2CmafUgo3
Two summers of unprecedented rain and unusually cool temperatures have left a large fuel load of grass and unburnt forest areas in and around Canberra.
A network of 500 fire trails and strategic burns along the north-west urban edge, heavy grazing and extra grass slashing will create a fortress for the territory which forecasters say faces a higher than average risk this summer.
After a fire-fuelled tornado in January 2003 killed four Canberrans and frightened thousands more, CSIRO fire expert Phil Cheney told the subsequent inquiry the fire’s penetration into urban areas under extreme conditions did not reflect a failure of fuel management on the urban interface.
Read more:http://www.canberratimes.com.au/environment/red-alert-for-high-risk-of-fires-20121118-29koa.html#ixzz2CmaXNjum
The failure was in the forest areas.Advertisement
Following a 10-year strategy, ACT fire managers have created a mosaic across the landscape of different fuel levels, burning at every opportunity.
But forests have been too wet to burn this spring and the past two summers.
