Fire Prevention Fee disclosure - $150/ property within California Wildland Fire / State Fire Responsibility Areas (SRA) starting in 2012

 

The notice of the Fire Prevention Fee disclosure has been included in all Property I.D. Reports since it was signed into law in July 2011. Property I.D. was the first and only NHD company that provided information on this new law since its inception.  This fee will be imposed on all properties that fall within California Wildland Fire / State Fire Responsibility Areas (SRA) starting in 2012.  Notice of Fire Prevention Fee: The Governor signed AB 29 of the First Extraordinary Session (ABX1 29) into law on July 7, 2011. ABX1 29 imposes a $150 annual wildfire protection fee per habitable structure for property owners in the SRA. SRA lands cover about 31 million acres in 56 counties, and include an estimated 1.1 million to 1.5 million individual parcels, and approximately 800,000 habitable structures. Public Resources Code Section 4210 provides a legislative finding and declaration that the presence of structures within the SRA can pose an increased risk of fire ignition and an increased potential for fire damage within the state’s wildlands and watersheds and that the costs of fire prevention activities should be borne by the owners of these structures. The State Board of Equalization (BOE) is required to annually assess and collect the fee from property owners on behalf of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF) in accordance with the Fee Collection Procedures Law. CDF is responsible for providing the BOE with a list of property owners who are liable for the fire prevention fee, and the amount to be assessed. However, the BOE is currently waiting to receive funding from the State of California in order to begin its collection duties, so the BOE has not yet finalized its method for the billing procedure of the Fire Prevention Fee. For more information from the BOE, please click on this link:  http://www.boe.ca.gov/abx129.htm Property I.D. was the first NHD company to include this disclosure in its Reports, and Property I.D. will continue to monitor and report to you what the BOE and CDF will do in the implementation of this new law. If you have a Property I.D. Report that was prepared prior to August 2011 for a transaction and escrow has not yet closed, please contact us for a free update which will include the Notice of Fire Prevention Fee. Ingrid