Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed a $150 annual fee for property owners to pay for fire-prevention services in rural areas of California. The fee applies to homeowners who live in very dry, fire-prone areas, and will go towards easing the cost to the state of battling dry-heat blazes.
Brown’s fee for the 846,000 homeowners living in more than 31 million acres of wildfire-prone areas could raise as much as $200 million a year, where Cal Fire is the primary responder. Under Brown’s direction, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection is currently analyzing state management of fire-prone areas and if local governments should contribute more to handling this responsibility.
With this proposal, lawmakers have also considered the revival of land-use restrictions, an idea abandoned three years ago due to objections from developers and local officials.
The passage of these proposals, should they stand their ground against threats of court challenges from taxpayer groups and developers’ scrutiny, would indicate a change of direction in California’s approach to wildland development.