Kehoe aims to raise money for firefighting

By: DAVE DOWNEY - Staff Writer
Her constitutional amendment would make it easier for communities to pass fire measures | Wednesday, February 27, 2008 11:29 PM PST ∞

A state senator from San Diego has written a bill that proposes to tax new and existing backcountry homes to pay for firefighting and fire prevention.

Sen. Christine Kehoe, D-San Diego, is also behind a proposed constitutional amendment that seeks to lower the threshold for cities, counties and fire districts wanting to raise taxes to fight fires.

Kehoe's package of legislation aims to better equip the state's firefighting agency to battle out-of-control, wind-fanned wildfires like those that laid waste to much of Southern California last fall and in 2003.

While wide agreement exists that more money and firefighting resources are needed, where that money should come from is always hotly debated. And Kehoe's legislation drew criticism from taxpayer advocates Wednesday.

Kehoe said in an interview Wednesday she is proposing a one-time fee on new homes built in the backcountry, as well as an annual fee on existing backcountry homes, to fund fire protection and prevention programs of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection or CalFire. The senator said she has yet to determine the amount of either fee and how much money would be generated.

Kehoe said she is also seeking an amendment to the state Constitution that would empower cities, counties and fire districts to raise taxes for firefighting if ballot measures garner 55 percent of the vote. Currently, it takes 66.7 percent of the voter to approve such measures.

Kehoe said under the amendment, money raised through local measures would have to go for fire suppression equipment such as helicopters and fire engines, and could not be used as a substitute for other fire revenue sources.

"We think that the need for more revenue was clearly shown by the October fires," Kehoe said.

Besides raising money, Kehoe said she is trying to encourage owners of older, more vulnerable homes to upgrade properties.

Under existing law, counties can't reassess property values and compel homeowners to pay higher property taxes when they install sprinklers or fire detection programs. Kehoe would expand that exclusion. That way, homeowners could replace wooden roofs and bring houses into compliance with the most-up-to-date building codes without worrying about paying higher taxes, she said.

Her package also would require county planners to consult with CalFire before approving new tracts in the backcountry. The package includes seven bills.

Jeff Bowman of Escondido, a former San Diego fire chief who has long contended area agencies spend too little on fire protection, said he generally supports the senator's fund-raising proposals.

"Something has to be done and, unfortunately, even though I don't like paying taxes either, we just don't have the revenue in this county apparently to get the job done," Bowman said.

Efforts to boost revenues often have failed.

For example, the city of San Diego twice rejected hotel-tax measures in 2004 that would have boosted funding for public safety, and in 2005 Ramona residents rejected a property-tax increase for fire protection.

However, Bowman said he disagrees with charging every existing home in the rural areas an annual fire prevention fee. He said it would make more sense to assess just those owners whose homes don't match up with building codes.

"Make the people pay who are exposing neighborhoods to problems," he said.

Kehoe said she is trying to address that fairness concern by offering to reduce fees for homeowners who have brought properties in compliance and cleared vegetation around them.

Taxpayer advocates, meanwhile, are concerned about the idea of reducing the vote requirement for new taxes.

Lani Lutar, executive director for the San Diego County Taxpayers Association, said the proposal mirrors Proposition 39, the 2000 measure that lowered the bar for passage of school bonds to 55 percent. The group strongly opposed the proposition.

"It's very likely we'll have similar concerns for this bill based on our past position," Lutar said.

Scott Barnett, a taxpayer watchdog and former Del Mar councilman, said he also disagrees with lowering the threshold for fire measures.

"We feel like, if there is a good enough argument to make, the two-thirds vote threshold will be met and measures will pass," said Barnett, who is president of TaxpayersAdvocate.org.

Kehoe said she is simply trying to make it easier for communities to improve their fire service.

Kehoe said she is also trying to put forth an alternative to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's controversial plan to tack a 1.25 percent surcharge on the insurance premiums of every home and business in the state, wherever located, to raise $125 million a year for CalFire. Kehoe maintained her plan is a "fairer approach" because it assesses only homes in the fire-prone backcountry where most wildfires start.

The area covered by the proposed fee is defined technically as the state responsibility area, where Calfire has primary responsibility for putting out fires. It includes the areas around Ramona, Fallbrook, Valley Center and Rancho Santa Fe, as well as north and east of Escondido and east of Poway, in San Diego County. In Riverside County, the state responsibility area takes in the areas west of Temecula, around Diamond Valley and Skinner lakes, and north of Lake Elsinore.

The state's responsibility stops at the boundaries of cities and national forests.

Kehoe said there are 66,000 homes in San Diego County areas protected by the state and 890,000 statewide. Across California, more than 100,000 homes have been in the backcountry since 2005, she said.

"The growth is really exploding in these areas," she said. "At the same time that our fire risk is increasing, we are seeing more residential development in the most dangerous parts of our state."

However, Barnett contended that city dwellers should share in the cost of fighting fires in those dangerous areas.

"Yes, fires start in the backcountry," he said. "But I don't buy the premise that, because of that, only backcountry property owners should be responsible for them. It's been a lucky freak of nature that we haven't burned to the ocean in these (2003 and 2007) fires."

-- Contact staff writer Dave Downey at (760) 745-6611, Ext. 2623, or ddowney@nctimes.com.

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