Recently the State of California has begun sending out bills from the State board of Equalization to property owners throughout the State including properties within the boundaries of the Lake Valley Fire Protection District. The bills are for what the State of California is referring to as a “Fire Prevention Fee”. The “Fire Prevention Fee” was created under an Assembly Bill by the California Legislature as a part of the 2011 / 2012 California State budget adoption. The “Fee” is to replace money taken away from the State Fire Department’s (Cal-Fire) budget. It is not for the enhancement of fire protection services by Cal-Fire. The “Fire Prevention Fee” revenue raised does not go to the Lake Valley Fire Protection District. As the “Fire Prevention Fee” is not considered to be a “Tax” by the State of California, no property owners had the opportunity to vote on the issue as would have been required under Proposition 218 had the “Fee” been a “Tax”.
The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association is planning on filing a lawsuit against the State of California as they feel that the “Fee” is actually a “Tax” and therefore is in violation of Proposition 218. They can be contacted at HYPERLINK "http://firetaxprotest.org/"
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