New Rural Fire Fee Will Cost County Residents Millions

A new fee for homeowers in rural parts of San Diego County, approved Wednesday by the state Board of Forestry and Fire Protection, will cost residents millions of dollars.

The fee calls for an annual payment of $150, which will help the deficit-ravaged state earn close to $50 million for fire education and fire prevention. More than 70,000 homeowners in rural San Diego County, covering an area of more than 1 million acres, would be affected by the fee.

Supervisor Dianne Jacob, whose second district includes areas likely to be most impacted by the fee – including Jamul, Dulzura, Descanso, Boulevard, Campo, Potrero, and Ramona – has been in staunch opposition to the proposed fee for months. She even wrote a letter to the forestry board in July asking that San Diego County be exempted from the rural fire fee.

“I question the motives of the fire board and the governor for trying to triple tax rural property owners who already pay for fire protection with property taxes and special assessments," she said.  "There are fewer rural residents than urban residents so this is a politically convenient way for the state to try to pawn off its budget mess on people in rural areas. The triple tax is unfair, legally questionable and does zip to address the state’s real problem: bureaucratic bloat.”

Anti-tax groups continue to fight the board's ruling, arguing that the legislation did not get the required two-thirds majority to pass, and was approved only by a simple majority.