BOE – Fire Fee

[Camp Con]

I support fire services here locally and throughout the state. As a part time resident of the Arnold area I pay property taxes and a regular property tax assessment to the Ebbetts Pass Fire District. However, I agree that the states so called fee is an illegal tax.

I am a firefighter in a Bay Area city, and I know for a fact that local Bay Area fire service taxes, fees and benefit assessments(whatever name gets attached to them) for additional funding must be voted on. Also, a 2/3s majority vote is required to get a new fee/tax approved. I’ve seen numerous fire departments throughout the Bay Area attempt to get additional funding that way. Whatever the State calls it, it’s still a tax.

[mr ellis]

I agree with “allen”. It’s a sneaky “tax” and as such should be nullified. As I understand the law, any new/additional taxes must be approved by the voters!

[allen]

Either way, it’s a “tax,” not a fee. That makes it illegal no matter what it is used for.

[bigtreestechman]

That seems a little silly… it’s a fire PREVENTION fee, not a fire confrontation fee. The real question should not be whether any funds went toward putting out fires but rather, did any funds go toward preventing fires?

[Westlye]

Per George Runner

George Runner, Vice Chair, State Board of Equalization <george.runner@crm.boe.ca.gov>
http://www.boe.ca.gov/runner/

Fire Prevention Fee in the News
I recently sat down with Capital Public Radio to discuss my opposition to California’s Fire Prevention Fee. During my interview, the reporter asked me how–considering California’s struggle with fires this year–I could be opposed to the fee.
Simple: Not a dime of the fire fee money is going towards putting out fires. And the program provides no new funding for trucks, hoses or helicopters. In fact, the program may have even delayed grants to local prevention programs.
Jim Miller of the Sacramento Bee recently discovered that millions of dollars of fire fee funds have not been spent, despite the fact that fires have burned hundreds of thousands of acres this year. He also found the state fee may be undermining local firefighting fundraising efforts.
My heart goes out to those who have lost their homes due to fire and I support our firefighters, but taxing Californians for a service they’re not benefiting from is unfair and–as a class action lawsuit contends–it’s likely illegal too.
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