State Responsibility Area (SRA) Fire Prevention Fee

  What is the SRA Fee?

The State Responsibility Area (SRA) Fire Prevention Benefit Fee was enacted following the signing of Assembly Bill X1 29 in July 2011. The law approved the new annual Fire Prevention Fee to pay for fire prevention services within the SRA. The fee is applied to all habitable structures within the SRA.

The fee is levied at the rate of $150 per habitable structure, which is defined as a building that can be occupied for residential use. Owners of habitable structures who are also within the boundaries of a local fire protection agency will receive a reduction of $35 per habitable structure.

This fee will fund a variety of important fire prevention services within the SRA including brush clearance and activities to improve forest health so the forest can better withstand wildfire.

  What type of structures will the fee be applied to?

The bill language defines structure as a "Building used or intended to be used for human habitation" including but not limited to a mobile or manufactured home.

  What is the Assessor's involvement?

Placer County, Office of the Assessor, has no association with the new State Fire Prevention Fee that property owners are being assessed. While the State may have utilized information obtained from the local assessment roll and other sources, the Assessor did not provide information that identifies which properties have structures that are habitable or uninhabitable.

  How will the fees be collected?

The bill directs the Board of Forestry to adopt emergency regulations to establish the fee which the BOE will be responsible for assessing and collecting.

  Whom do I contact for more information?

For more information regarding this fee, contact the Fire Prevention Fee Service Center at 1-888-310-6447 or visit http://www.firepreventionfee.org/index.php.