It’s not fair; it’s not constitutional, but thanks to Governor Jerry Brown and the Legislature, fire tax bills are coming all the same.
The State of California will begin mailing the first of more than 825,000 “Fire Prevention Fee” bills on Monday, August 13.
The tax, approved as a fee by a simple majority vote of the Legislature last year, charges residential property owners in rural areas $150 for each habitable structure located on their land. Property owners who pay for local fire protection will receive a $35 reduction.
To help inform California taxpayers, I’ve established a website, calfirefee.com, providing information about the new fire tax. Californians can visit this site to find out if they might soon receive a fire tax bill. You can also find details regarding the process, timeline and grounds for filing an appeal.
The bills will go out in alphabetical order by county between August and early December. The state has released the following partial mailing schedule:
| ALAMEDA | August 13th through 14th |
| ALPINE | August 14th |
| AMADOR | August 14th through 17th |
| BUTTE | August 17th through 24th |
| CALAVERAS | August 24th through 29th |
| COLUSA | August 29th |
| CONTRA COSTA | August 29th |
| DEL NORTE | August 29th through 30th |
| EL DORADO | August 30th through September 7th |
| FRESNO | September 7th through 10th |
| GLENN | September 10th |
| HUMBOLDT | September 10th through 12th |
| IMPERIAL | September 12th |
| INYO | September 12th |
Elected in November 2010, George Runner represents more than nine million Californians as a member of the State Board of Equalization. For more information, visit www.boe.ca.gov/Runner.