With the property tax season soon upon us, many Tahoe residents might be surprised to get hit with a new bill in the mail this month — $150 due to Cal Fire, the state department of fire and forestry protection.
Technically it’s not a tax; it’s a “fee.” At least that’s what the state is banking on.
The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association sued the state earlier this month to overturn the fee, alleging that it is, in fact, a “tax” that should have required a two-thirds vote of the legislature to pass.
Should it prevail, some 825,000 rural homeowners throughout the state would be eligible for refunds.
To qualify, property owners must first pay their bill, then file a protest with the state. Howard Jarvis has set up a website, firetaxprotest.org, that shows how to protest the fee with links to download the necessary forms. Property owners can also sign up for free email bulletins that will keep them informed of the progress of the class action suit.
Gov. Jerry Brown signed the fee into law last year, and it is expected to raise $84 million in its first year. The funds are not earmarked for fighting fires, but for “preventing” them.
“The work that’s done ahead of time can slow or stop a fire,” said Cal Fire spokesman Daniel Berlant, citing the need for prevention efforts such as brush clearance and fuels reduction.
Incorporated areas of the state and federal lands are exempt from the fee. That means residents in the Town of Truckee, for example, should not expect a bill, but their neighbors in Alpine Meadows, Lahontan, and other neighborhoods in unincorporated areas will.
But in the confusion over the new fee, some say those lines are blurry.
“I heard from a guy in Glenshire on Royal Crest who doesn’t understand why he’s getting the bill,” said Paul Spencer, spokesman for the Truckee Fire Department.
Glenshire is within the Town of Truckee, an incorporated area.
Spencer got a bill in the mail, too. Because he lives outside of Truckee proper but within the town’s fire district, his bill was $115. The law allows for a $35 discount to those already paying into a local fire district.
An interactive map at firepreventionfee.org allows residents to enter their address to see if they fall under the umbrella of the new fee.
Critics say the new fee is too unevenly distributed throughout the state to be fair and that it has some homeowners paying for services they don’t directly receive. Much of the Tahoe Basin, for example, is not protected by Cal Fire but by the U.S. Forest Service.
Cal Fire keeps one engine in Truckee at the airport for emergency use. But the first responder is the Forest Service, which has a fully manned station in Truckee that was kept busy all summer putting out brush fires and dealing with lightening strikes.
Earlier this month, amid one of the worst fire seasons on record, the Forest Service announced that it had “run out of money” to fight forest fires. Money was raided from other funds to keep firefighters on the jobs, and Congress ultimately stepped in with a rescue package.
None of the new fee would go to the Forest Service fire fighting efforts, and even in California, it will not go to fight fires, but to prevent them.
~ Additional information on appeals with links to forms is available at calfirefee.com
