Heat returns as fire fee hits home

As promised by the state of California following the signing of ABXI-29 in July 2011, homeowners living in State Responsibility Area are now paying the price for fire prevention.
The State Responsibility Area (SRA) Fire Prevention Benefit Fee has been making its way to recipients since August of this year, when the bills first started going out alphabetically by county.
The $150 annual fee is applied to all habitable structures – those that can be occupied for residential use – located within the over 31 million acres of SRA. However, homeowners of habitable structures located in SRA that are also in the boundaries of a local fire protection agency will receive a reduction of $35 per habitable structure, according to Board of Forestry and Fire Protection Executive Officer George Gentry.
State Responsibility Area refers to state and privately owned forests, watershed and rangeland that CAL FIRE is responsible for providing wildfire protection to.
For example, parcels in the outlying, unincorporated areas outside the city limits of Windsor, Healdsburg, Geyserville, Cloverdale, and also Monte Rio, Guerneville, Duncan Mills, Cazadero, Jenner, Bodega Bay and half of Forestville are located in SRA – as are portions of many rural fire districts.  
Property owners already pay via property taxes for fire protection service. In addition, the majority of fire districts also charge residents a separate fire suppression fee – or two. With the onset of ABX1-29, some of those same people will now be paying yet another annual fee, this one slated for fire prevention.
Asked if the Board of Forestry has received many questions and complaints, Gentry said: “Lots. There are a lot of questions, and complaining. A lot of people believe that this is not a fee, that this is a tax and should have been passed by two-thirds vote, rather than a simple majority.
“It’s been a very challenging thing to put together and we will see where it goes from here. It is unclear whether or not it will continue after legal challenges, but we will do our best to implement what we have. The law is (currently) being challenged in court, as to whether or not it is a fee or tax, by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.”
Many Sonoma County Fire agencies and district boards have passed resolutions opposing the fire prevention fee, according to Sean Grinnell, Sonoma County Fire Chiefs Association secretary and Bodega Bay Fire chief.
“Our language specifically here is ‘The board of directors at Bodega Bay Fire Protection District think that ABX1-29 and its statutes are ill conceived, based on misinformation and will negatively impact the long standing strategy for protecting California wildlands.”
Grinnell said he and Bodega Bay Fire Protection District board members have been hearing lots of complaints from people. “They feel they are paying for the local service and feel there is no need for the new fee,” he said. “It’s tough for them because they don’t see a CAL FIRE station locally. Cazadero, Occidental and Petaluma are the closest stations to us,” he said, adding, “And, we don’t live in a fire prone area; not compared to the rest of the state.”
In addition to the new SRA fee, residents in the Bodega Bay Fire Protection District pay an annual special tax of just over $524 for fire and paramedic protection, which does not include their property tax assessment.
People living in the Windsor Fire Protection District pay two different special taxes, in addition to their property taxes, and now, some will also be hit with the SRA fee.
One special tax is almost $68 a year and the other one is based on the size of the building, but generally falls in the $100 range. People living in the Rincon Valley area covered by the WFPD pay $36 for a residential property, according to WFPD Chief Doug Williams.
As with other fire districts, Windsor, too has gotten its share of complaints about the SRA fee.
“We have gotten a few and nobody is particularly happy with it, that has contacted us,” Williams said, noting, trying to explain to people the ins and outs of State Responsibility Area can be very confusing.
Gentry said the SRA Fire Prevention Benefit fee will fund the prevention actives of the department, which can be anything from fuel reduction projects, to education, to inspections for defensible space, to mapping hazardous fuel areas.