fire tax

SENATOR ANDERSON'S COMMUNITY COFFEE TOPICS RANGE FROM FIRE TAX TO VACCINES

 

By Janis Russell

October 29, 2015 (Spring Valley)- On Thursday October 22, La Mesa-Spring Valley School District Board member David Chong hosted Senator Joel Anderson’s community coffee at Trinity Presbyterian Church. Zahara Almosawi, an intern for the Senator, manned a table with resources for the community, including paperwork for anyone who had problems with a state agency.


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JUDGE RULES TAXPAYERS ASSOCIATION HAS STANDING IN FIRE FEE CASE

 

By Miriam Raftery

July 23, 2013 (San Diego’s East County) – A lawsuit challenging fire parcel fees was heard Friday in Sacramento Superior Court.  The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association sued the State of California, arguing that fire parcel fees assessed on taxpayers in state responsibility areas should be considered taxes, not fees.

A two-thirds majority vote of the State Legislature is required to pass a new tax, though this requirement does not apply to fees.

The State had argued that the Jarvis group did not have standing to represent taxpayers in the class action lawsuit, but the judge disagreed, ruling that the Jarvis organization does have legal standing. The state has 10 days to file a response to the ruling.


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EAST COUNTY ROUNDUP: TOP LOCAL AND STATE NEWS


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SUPERVISOR JACOB ADVISES TAXPAYERS TO PROTEST FIRE FEE

By Bill Weaver
 
November 17, 2012 (San Diego’s East County) –Supervisor Dianne Jacob has issued a statement urging backcountry residents who oppose the state fire tax fee to take the following steps to protect their rights in the event that litigation ultimately overturns the fees.  While some support the fees as a means to fund firefighting services by Cal Fire during fiscally challenging times for the state, Jacob contends the tax places an unfair burden on rural residents.
 
"County Supervisor Dianne Jacob advises residents in her district to pay a new state fire tax now being levied on tens of thousands of local homeowners, but to do it under protest.


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STATE FIRE TAX NOTICES NOW HITTING LOCAL MAILBOXES

November 3, 2012 (Sacramento) – State officials have started mailing notices to tens of thousands of San Diego County property owners warning that they will soon be billed $150 annually to help shore up Cal Fire’s budget. Budget cuts have dropped the number of firefighters per engine, among other cutbacks in wildfire protection.

Residents of Alpine, Dehesa and other communities in Jacob’s Second District report receiving the notices in recent days. They consider the new fire tax an unfair burden, noting they already pay state property taxes to help fund public safety and often community fees for additional fire protection.


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REPEAL OF FIRE FEES FIZZLES

AB 1500 Fails; SB 1040 can’t move forward

By Janis Mork

September 11, 2012(San Diego)- Language in Senate Bill 1040 which sought to repeal the state fire parcel fees will not take effect, since its enactment was tied to a companion measure, Assembly Bill 1500, that failed passage.


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JARVIS TAX GROUP FILES SUIT OVER FIRE PARCEL FEES

September 13, 2012 (San Diego’s East County) – As fire parcel fee notices arrive in the mail for rural homeowners in East County, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Association has filed a lawsuit contending that the fee is an illegal tax that required a two-thirds majority of the Legislature for passage.

If the gorup prevails, a court may order refunds. The organization’s website, FireTaxProtest.org site has a Petition for Redetermination that it suggests property owners mail in with their payments:  http://firetaxprotest.org/?page_id=13.


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ASSEMBLYMAN JONES JOINS COLLEAGUES IN CALLING FOR REPEAL OF “ILLEGAL” FIRE TAX

 
Jones Cites Disproportionate Impact on San Diego County 
 
March 16, 2012 (Santee) -- Assemblyman Brian Jones (R-Santee) joined with his Republican colleagues in support of Assembly Bill 1506, legislation that will repeal the unconstitutional fire tax.

“I strongly support this legislation; the fire tax is nothing more than political sleight of hand and clearly does not pass Constitutional or ethical muster,” said Assemblyman Brian Jones of the mislabeled “fee”, which was passed by the Legislature with a simple majority vote and signed by the Governor as part of the 2011-2012 Budget deal. “It wrongly labels a ‘tax’ as a ‘fee’ and also double-taxes residents by combining new ‘fees’ with current local fire district assessments. This will have a disproportionate and devastating financial impact on the residents of my district in East San Diego County.”

 


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STATE BOARD APPROVES FIRE PARCEL FEE ON RURAL PROPERTY OWNERS; JACOB BLASTS DECISION


January 11, 2012 (Sacramento) – California’s Board of Forestry and Fire Protection voted today to approve a revised fire parcel fee on structures in rural areas under jurisdiction of Cal Fire.


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STATE APPROVES FIRE PARCEL FEE ON RURAL PROPERTIES

By Miriam Raftery

November 12, 2011 (Sacramento)—The California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection has approved a $150 fire parcel fee on rural property owners. Those living in a fire district will receive a $35 discount, dropping the fee to $115. The state estimates that 90 percent of structures will quality for the savings.


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SUPERVISORS ASK STATE TO RESTORE FIREFIGHTING CUTS AND REPEAL FIRE PARCEL FEE

August 20, 2011 (San Diego) –State Supervisors are firing back after the state slashed spending for firefighting services and enacted a fire parcel fee on rural residents.

 


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FIRE PARCEL FEE: WHO PAYS, WHO DOESN’T?

 

By Miriam Raftery

 

July 13, 2011 (San Diego’s East County) – As controversy burns around the new fire parcel fee signed into law by Governor Brown, many area residents have asked which communities and what types of structures are subject to the fees. East County Magazine spoke with Cal Fire spokesman Daniel Berlant in Sacramento. We have answers--and a detailed map.

 

 


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EAST OF THE LINE: FIRE FEE SLAPPED ON POLITICALLY IMPOTENT MINORITY IS A SLIPPERY SLOPE FOR ALL

 By Billie Jo Jannen

July 13, 2011 (Campo)--I can vividly describe every one of the four fires that has burned through my property over the past 25 years. Notably, every one was started by someone who doesn’t live here. Causes include burning objects thrown from passing cars and trains, illegal fireworks by drunk Navy men, and border smugglers intent on their own agendas.

 

Also notable is that my family’s home survived every fire because of our personal efforts -- both costly and time-consuming -- to plan and execute our own defenses. Not a single fire department, including CalFire, has ever managed to arrive at my house before the fires did; the distances are simply too great and the fires too unpredictable.


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