In 2014, the State Fire Prevention Fee will increase to $152.33 per parcel from the current rate of $150 per parcel.
The increase is authorized by section 4212 of the public Resource Code, which states, “On July 1, 2013, and annually thereafter, the board shall adjust the fire prevention fees imposed pursuant to this chapter to reflect the percentage of change in the average annual value of the Implicit Price Deflator for State and Local Government Purchases of Goods and Services for the United States …”
The $35 reduction for habitable structures within existing local fire districts, for instance Idyllwild Fire Protection District, will not change, according to George Gentry, executive officer of the state’s Board of Forestry and Fire Protection.
The state’s Office of Administrative Law told the BFFP that such changes can be made without conducting a regular rulemaking action.
Next year, the state hopes to have guidelines or regulations available for using the monies in the Fee Fund.
“They have not been prepared yet, and are still in the planning stages,” Gentry wrote in an email. “They might be introduced later next year.”