Fire fee

One of the more publicized events to have come out of Sacramento
for the first time in many years, was a budget delivered within the
constitutional deadline. One of the lesser known outcomes
associated with the delivery of the budget was the 11th hour
inclusion of a Fire Prevention “fee” on parcels within the State
Responsibility Areas (SRA). What is an SRA fee? According to the
Board of Equalization bill analysis, it is a “fee” of up to $150
for each “habitable” structure “to fund fire prevention
activities.” Given that most properties outside of the nine
incorporated Cities in Sonoma County lie within the SRA, chances
are, if you don’t live in a city, this fee will apply to you. As an
organization that represents almost every fire agency in Sonoma
County, the Sonoma County Fire Chiefs Association feels it is
important to share our concerns about the new Fire Prevention Fees
with the public, our locally-elected officials, and our state
legislators:
As written, the new Fire Prevention Fee legislation remains
vague. Because it does not recognize that most properties are also
served by a Fire District, it will be difficult to implement in an
equitable manner. Even those who will be responsible for its
implementation acknowledge that “a lot of details will need to be
worked out.”  
Since homeowners in the SRA are already required by law to
maintain a defensible space around their homes (and many do), it is
difficult to envision what the direct benefit will be for these
homeowners who are charged the $150 fee. Furthermore, since the
vulnerability of a home to a wildland fire varies throughout the
county, as do the prevention efforts that are needed to safeguard
it, applying the same fee without consideration of these efforts
creates an inequitable process.
To borrow a cliché, the “fee” will likely generate unintended
consequences for many local agencies (some all volunteer) who
provide fire and emergency medical services (EMS) year round and
through the election process passed (some by 2/3rds vote) local
assessments to fund their services.  In many cases the new Fire
Prevention Fee will more than double these local assessments and
subsequently will make it unlikely that voters would ever support
any future increase for their local fire agency. The potential loss
of this revenue may ultimately result in a decline in fire and
emergency medical services to these very communities.
Finally, as every firefighter in California knows, most large
conflagrations occur due to significant climatic conditions such as
droughts combined with strong wind events and low relative
humidity. As written, a fee that is designated to fund Fire
Prevention activities will do little to prevent or offset the
operational costs of controlling these fires.
We encourage you to contact the Governor and your State
representatives and share your concerns regarding the new SRA
fee.
Randy Collins is Healdsburg’s former Fire Chief and
President of the Sonoma County Fire Chiefs Association. Dan
Northern is Vice President of the Association and Chief of the
Forestville Fire District.