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Back in August 2012 Property I.D. notified Californians that a $150.00 Fire Prevention Fee would hitting their mailboxes. Here is a reissue for review.

According to Kevin Sparks at the California State Board of Equalization ("BOE"), billing for the $150.00 fire prevention fee will begin on August 13, 2012. Owners of California property located in a state fire responsibility area / wildland fire zone ("SRA") that have been assessed a fee of $150.00 per habitable structure, should expect to receive a bill from the BOE before the end of this year.

Sparks stated that "Billing will begin on August 13, 2012 and should be completed by December." He also stated that billing throughout the state will be conducted alphabetically by county, so property owners in Alameda County's SRA will be the first to receive their fire prevention fee bills, and Yuba County property owners will be last to receive their bills.

The Governor signed AB 29 of the First Extraordinary Session ("ABX1 29") into law on July 7, 2011. ABX1 29 imposes a $150.00 annual fire prevention fee per habitable structure for property owners in 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 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 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.

For more information from the BOE, please click on this link: http://www.boe.ca.gov/abx129.htm

The notice of the fire prevention fee disclosure has been included in all Property I.D. Reports since the fee requirement 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 annual fire prevention fee will be imposed on all properties located in California's SRA's.

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