SACRAMENTO
– George Runner today announced that the Board of Equalization will
delay this year’s fire fee bills in response to a request from Cal Fire.
The bills were scheduled to begin mailing April 2.
“The
delay appears to be related to concerns about accuracy of the billing
data,” said Runner. “I’m pleased to see that Cal Fire is admitting
there’s a problem.”
Earlier
this week Runner called upon Cal Fire to delay thousands of potentially
inaccurate fire fee bills until after the Board of Forestry has an
opportunity to correct the State Responsibility Area maps.
In his letter,
Runner wrote: “As a matter of fairness, it is important that the
billing of these accounts be delayed until these ‘errors and
inconsistencies’ are resolved by the Board of Forestry.”
As reported by the Mountain Democrat,
a recent Cal Fire investigation found “errors and inconsistencies” in
State Responsibility Area boundaries. Among its findings, the review
identified more than 1,300 parcels in El Dorado Hills that don’t belong
in the SRA.
“The
state shouldn’t be knowingly sending tax bills to anyone who doesn’t
actually owe the money,” said Runner. “It’s just wrong.”
In
recent weeks, Cal Fire has drawn significant media attention and public
scrutiny. The agency was forced to admit the existence of a secret
$3.66 million slush fund, and has also drawn criticism for illegally
diverting fire fee funds to pay for wildfire investigations.
The
State of California also was recently served with a class action
lawsuit brought by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association challenging
the constitutionality of the fire fee. Runner plans to file an amicus
brief in support of the lawsuit.
“The
fire fee is tax policy at its worst,” said Runner. “Ever since the
Legislature enacted this illegal tax, it’s created one problem after
another. If the Legislature doesn’t act quickly to repeal this fiasco,
the courts need to strike it down.”
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.
press release