SACRAMENTO – According to George Runner, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association today formally served
the California State Board of Equalization, Department of Forestry and
Fire Protection and Department of Justice with a lawsuit challenging the
constitutionality of the state’s “Fire Prevention Fee.”
“The wheels of justice grind slowly, but I’m pleased that this vitally important lawsuit is moving forward,” said Runner. “Recent revelations regarding the state’s misuse of fire fee dollars have only strengthened our case that the ‘fire fee’ is really an illegal tax.”
Runner plans to formally join the lawsuit by filing an amicus brief on behalf of California taxpayers he represents.
Both
during his time in the Legislature and as an elected member of the
State Board of Equalization, Runner has been a vocal opponent of the
fire fee. But he has also encouraged impacted Californians to pay the
fee because it is current law.
So
far most taxpayers are following Runner’s advice. As of March 1, about
72% of bills have been paid in full and 6% paid in part, yielding $72
million in revenue to the state.
“While
a lawsuit is one way to stop this regressive and unconstitutional tax,
an even better approach would be for the Legislature to simply repeal
it. And they ought to do so before one more Californian is forced to
forfeit one more dollar.”
The
State of California is currently gearing up to send a second round of
bills to rural property owners for fiscal year 2012-13. An updated
mailing schedule will soon be available at boe.ca.gov and calfirefee.com.
