Telephone Town Hall discussion on the California Fire Prevention Fee
Fast Facts:
None of the fire fee goes to fighting fires.
The lawsuit has been filed as a class action and you have to be a member of the class.
You need to pay the bill even though the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association has filed the lawsuit.
You must file for the refund (petition for re-determination) within 30 days of the date on the bill.
On Wednesday, May 13, 2015 Board of Equalization Member Diane Harkey hosted a Telephone Town Hall discussion on the California Fire Prevention Fee with George Runner, Vice Chair, California State Board of Equalization, Mike Morrell, California State Senator, 23rd Senate District and Jon Coupal, President, Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.
The panel discussed the status of the current Fire Prevention Fee lawsuit and provided an update on bills in the legislature.
George Runner, Vice Chair, California State Board of Equalization (BOE) said there is a lot of confusion and anger with the Fire Prevention Fee and he sees this as a fire tax.
BOE Member, George Runner provided background information on the fire fee. He said back in 2011 when the state was having financial difficulties it looked around to where it could get money from and found money in the general fund to pay for fire prevention projects. So instead of having the General Fund pay for fire prevention projects they instituted a fee (tax) to have the residents in the more rural areas pay for the fire prevention projects.
The legislature passed the fire fee with a simple majority vote and also made it retroactive, giving the taxpayers two bills in the first year.
None of the fire fee goes to fighting fires.
The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association entered the picture with a lawsuit and legislation was introduced to change or repeal the fire fee.
BOE Member, George Runner said this is a very bad tax.
Two different paths have been take in legislation over the fire fee: (1) to repeal the law (2) a bill was passed so that the residents only had to file one set of appeals and also if your house burns down you do not have to pay the bill. The bill also reduced the penalty which was 20% per month to a more reasonable penalty.
Currently you have 30 days to pay the bill from the day when it was mailed to you but a bill has been introduced to extend the payment to 60 days.
Mike Morrell, California State Senator, 23rd Senate District said any fee or tax increase to the residents needs a 2/3 majority in the legislature and they passed this legislation without a 2/3 majority. That is why the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association instituted the lawsuit.
Current bills in the legislature are 203, 1202 and 867 is for full refund of monies paid in.
Senator Morel said a bad bill has been introduced. Bill 1203 by Assemblymember Jones Sawyer would repeal the fire tax but would replace it with about a 5% increase to your fire insurance policy for all residential and commercial homeowners in the state.
Diane Harkey, Fourth District Representative, California State Board of Equalization said the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association recommends you mark the 5th box (other) on the form and write 'see attached', and then write "This is an illegal tax and you want a refund."
Jon Coupal, President, Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association said you can get to the protest forms by going to Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and click on the fire protest tax banner or www.firetaxprotest.org and select the refund tab.
Mr. Coupal said you need to pay the bill even though the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association has filed the lawsuit.
He said you must file for the refund (petition for re-determination) within 30 days of the date on the bill.
Also it needs to be filled out every year.
The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association are filing to get all the money back to everyone but it may be likely that only those who have filed the petition every year may get paid.
If you do not pay the fire fee, you most likely did not file the petition and you jeopardize getting your money back. They do not know if the liens that were attached to your property would be dissolved even if they win the lawsuit.
Diane Harkey, Fourth District Representative, California State Board of Equalization said the CAL FIRE petition form instructions says not to use their form to oppose their fire fee as an illegal tax.
Mr. Coupal said to use their form to preserve your rights in the lawsuit.
It does not hurt to file for past years, but you may not get relief. The courts may grant all, some or none.
You should make copies of anything you send in and you can also send a .pdf to the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.
The lawsuit has been filed as a class action and you have to be a member of the class. You are a member of the class if you have filed the petition for re-determination. Mr. Coupal said they also are asking for relief for everyone but it is very dicey.
On May 13, 2015 the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association filed a motion in the superior court to certify this legal action as a class action. This means that people do not have to file as individuals. The hearing is coming up on June 12.
They are hoping they will have a ruling on the merits of the lawsuit within a year, and then they would have to go through the appeals process.
For more information;
calfirefee.com
Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association
www.firetaxprotest.org
