State Responsibility Area Fire Prevention Benefit Fee Bills Mailed to Idyllwild Residents

State Responsibility Area Fire Prevention Benefit Fee bills from the California State Board of Equalization have been mailed, according to the Idyllwild Fire Protection District.

A map of State Responsibility Area lands in the San Gorgonio Pass shows a checkerboard pattern outside Beaumont, Banning and Cabazon.


Property owners in the Idyllwild Fire Protection District began receiving the bills on Saturday Sept. 14, according a statement released by the District on Monday Sept. 16.

Here's more info from the statement:

The Fire District is not responsible for the generation of the bills and receives NO monies and NO financial benefit from the monies collected.

Property owners of properties within the Idyllwild Fire Protection District are reminded that they are to have received a $35 discount on the $150 bill, paying $115 per habitable structure. The $35 discount is for those properties that lie within a Fire District.

From the website http://www.firepreventionfee.org/, a ca.gov website:

"The State Responsibility Area (SRA) Fire Prevention Benefit Fee was enacted following the signing of Assembly Bill X1 29 in July 2011. The law approved the new annual Fire Prevention Fee to pay for fire prevention services within the SRA. The fee is applied to all habitable structures within the SRA.

"The fee is levied at the rate of $150 per habitable structure, which is defined as a building that can be occupied for residential use. Owners of habitable structures who are also within the boundaries of a local fire protection agency will receive a reduction of $35 per habitable structure.

"This fee will fund a variety of important fire prevention services within the SRA including brush clearance around communities on public lands, along roadways and evacuation routes; and activities to improve forest health so the forest can better withstand wildfire.

"The State Responsibility Area (SRA) is the area of the state where the State of California is financially responsible for the prevention and suppression of wildfires. SRA does not include lands within city boundaries or in federal ownership."

To view an interactive SRA map with address locators online visit http://www.firepreventionfee.org/sraviewer_launch.php.

For more info about the State Responsibility Area (SRA) Fire Prevention Benefit Fee, call the Fire Prevention Fee Service Center at 1 (888) 310-6447 or the State Board of Equalization at 1 (800) 400-7115.