BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1617|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 1617
Author: Kehoe (D)
Amended: 5/27/08
Vote: 21
SENATE NATURAL RES. & WATER COMMITTEE : 5-2, 4/8/08
AYES: Steinberg, Kehoe, Kuehl, Machado, Migden
NOES: Margett, Hollingsworth
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cogdill
SENATE REVENUE & TAXATION COMMITTEE : 5-3, 4/9/08
AYES: Oropeza, Alquist, Machado, Scott, Wiggins
NOES: Cogdill, Harman, Runner
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 8-4, 5/22/08
AYES: Torlakson, Cedillo, Corbett, Florez, Kuehl, Oropeza,
Simitian, Yee
NOES: Cox, Aanestad, Ashburn, Dutton
NO VOTE RECORDED: Ridley-Thomas, Runner, Wyland
SUBJECT : State Responsibility Area Fire Prevention Fees
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill charges a $50 fee on all structures
within a state responsibility area for fire prevention.
ANALYSIS : Under existing law, Department of Forestry and
Fire Protection (CDFFP) is required to provide fire
protection on lands that are deemed to be in the "state
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responsibility area" (SRA). SRAs are generally
lands that are (or were, prior to development) largely
covered by trees, brush, and grass and other undeveloped
lands. SRAs cannot include federal owned or controlled
land, or land within a city. Existing law requires CDFFP
to provide wildland fire prevention and firefighting
personnel and equipment. Existing law authorizes CDFFP to
provide rescue, first aid, and other emergency services to
the public in the SRA if the activity does not require
additional funds.
According to the Legislative Analyst's Office, in its
Analysis of the 2008-2009 Budget Bill , "Over the last
several decades, the state has experienced significant
housing development at the boundary between wildlands and
urban areas, known as the wildland urban interface. In
particular, significant development has occurred in the
Sierra Nevada foothills and the interior ranges of Southern
California?. [W]hile the total acreage in SRA has remained
stable over the last 15 years, the number of housing units
in SRA has increased by 15 percent over this period -
despite changes in SRA designations which have moved fire
protection responsibility for significant numbers of houses
from SRA to local responsibility areas. As development
increases in previously undeveloped - and often fire prone
- areas, fire protection costs increase for several
reasons. First, the presence of more people increases the
incidence of wildland fires, as fires from human-caused
activities spread to wildland areas. Second, protecting
people and homes often requires greater fire suppression
effort than would typically be used on forests or
rangelands. Finally, the presence of people and structures
can sometimes limit the techniques used for fire prevention
or suppression. For example, the use of prescribed burning
to reduce available fuel loads or the use of aircraft to
suppress fires may be limited by the presence of homes in a
formerly wildland area. The inability to use these kinds
of fire suppression tactics increases the need for more
labor-intensive firefighting methods to protect people and
homes."
According to a report found on the department's Internet
Web site, people cause over 95 percent of the fires in the
SRA.
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The total number of structures in the SRA is unknown.
According to the Legislative Analyst's Office, as of 2005
there were in excess of 850,000 residences in the SRA. For
the purposes of this analysis, staff assumes that for every
ten residential structures there is a non-residential
structure
(85,000). Additionally, the number of structures in the
SRA that are sufficiently covered by a structural fire
department is unknown. For the purposes of this analysis,
staff assumes that 75 percent of structures in the SRA have
sufficient structural fire protection provided by a
non-CDFFP entity.
This bill charges a $50 fee on all structures within a
state responsibility area for fire prevention. The monies
are to be appropriated by the Legislature, and all start-up
costs are to be recovered from the fee.
This bill requires local governments to collect the fee at
the same time and manner as secured property tax bills.
This bill requires that the fee be collected starting with
the 2009-10 fiscal year.
The county collecting the fees will be authorized to retain
the portion of the fee authorized by the BOF to cover the
actual and reasonable costs associated with the collection
of this fee.
The county auditor will be required to remit the fee
revenues to the State Treasurer for deposit into the State
Responsibility Area Fire Prevention Fund, established in
the bill.
The amount of revenues that will be generated by the fee
are unknown but potentially in excess of $45 million per
year.
Money in the fund will be available to the board and the
department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for fire
prevention activities in state responsibility areas,
attributable to benefits conferred on structures subject to
the fee. Funds can be used for local assistant grants,
grants to Fire Safe Councils and the California
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Conservation Corps, department inspections for compliance
with defensible space requirements around structures in
state responsibility areas, public education, fire severity
and fire hazard mapping by the department and other fire
prevention activities determined by the Board.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2008-09 2009-10
2010-11 Fund
Emergency regulations $500 General
Parcel mapping $315 $630 $630 General/
Special*
Collection costs unknown,
$2000-$5000 Special*
Fee revenue $46,750
$46,750Special*
*State Responsibility Area Fire Protection Fund,
established in this bill.
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/27/08)
California Fire Safe Council
California League of Conservation Voters
California Native Plant Society
CalTrout
Defenders of Wildlife
Endangered Habitats League
Sierra Club
OPPOSITION : (Verified 5/27/08)
California Association of County Treasurers and Tax
Collectors
California State Association of Counties
County of Amador
County of Butte
County of Calaveras
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County of Del Norte
County of Glenn
County of Inyo
County of Lassen
County of Mendocino
County of Plumas
County of Shasta
County of Tehama
County of Trinity
County of Tulare
Department of Finance
Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association
Regional Council of Rural Counties
Stop Hidden Taxes Coalition
Tehama County Auditor-Controller
Tuolumne County - Office of the Auditor-Controller
CTW:nl 5/28/08 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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