New Round Of Fire Fees
Sacramento – The California State Board of Equalization (BOE) will begin mailing fire prevention fee bills for Fiscal Year 2012-13 to owners with habitable structures located on property in the State Responsibility Area (SRA).
The Board of Forestry adopted new SRA boundary lines in May that will exclude some property owners from fee assessment in the next Fiscal Year 2013-14 billing cycle. Boundaries were not changed in Calaveras but in Tuolumne, the city of Tuolumne’s boundaries changed. A more detailed map is here. According to CAL Fire, the new SRA boundary changes will be mailed out in Spring 2014 and do not affect the billings being mailed out now. Calaveras boundaries remain unchanged here and the previous Tuolumne SRA map is here.
Local District BOE representative George Runner says, “I am disappointed that the Governor and Legislature failed to repeal this unfair and unconstitutional tax during the recent budget negotiations. Their failure to take action means that rural taxpayers will be forced to pay this regressive tax yet again.”
Assembly Bill x1 29 was enacted on July 8, 2011, and requires the BOE to collect the fire prevention fee annually on behalf of CAL Fire. The BOE will update the billing schedule on its fire prevention fee website.
Petitions, for those who believe they should not have received a fire prevention fee bill, must be filed within 30 days of the date printed on the bill. Feepayers with questions should contact the Fire Prevention Fee Service Center at 1-888-310-6447 or visit the website here or www.calfirefee.com.
