Font ResizeBeacon Correspondent
The formation of four new Fire Protection Districts in Humboldt County will proceed based on a low number of protests filed with the Humboldt County Local Agency Formation Commission, or LAFCo.
Two of the four new districts -- Bridgeville and Fruitland Ridge -- had no protests voiced against formation; there were two protests filed in the Briceland FPD, and 10 filed in the Palo Verde FPD. Fifty percent or more of the voters filing written protests in each of the forming districts was needed to stop the process. California law requires protest hearings be held regarding formation of new special districts.
Protests were submitted by registered voters in the districts. The ballots returned to LAFCo did not state reasons for why the protest was filed, but simply included the property owner's name.
”Most (protests) were tied to the State Responsibility Area (SRA) proposed fire protection fee,” said LAFCo Executive Director George Williamson. “The concerns were not with the districts themselves.”
He said residents felt the state fire prevention fee and local fire protection district fee were a “double hit.”
The SRA Fire Prevention Benefit fee will be $150 per habitable structure and is anticipated to apply to more than 800,000 structures in a 31 million acre area. Regulations establishing the state fee were approved Jan. 11 by the California Board of Forestry & Fire Protection and then submitted to the Office of Administrative Law (OAL). The OAL approved the SRA Fire Prevention Benefit fee regulations on Jan. 23.
Included in the state regulations is a $35 discount for each habitable structure that is within the boundary of a local agency that provides fire protection services. That discount would apply to all of the newly forming FPDs in Humboldt County. The state fire prevention fee regulations also include an appeal process which property owners may use to challenge assessed fees and request a reduced fee for structures located in both a SRA and a local fire protection district.
Pending voter approval, the local FPD tax will be $85 per parcel in the Briceland FPD, $75 for improved parcels and $10 for unimproved parcels in the Bridgeville FPD, $60 per parcel in the Fruitland Ridge FPD, and $150 for improved parcels and $75 for unimproved parcels in the Palo Verde FPD.
In all of the newly forming local FPDs, there is a hardship fee exemption for those residents who fall within the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development guidelines for “very low” or “poverty” level income.
LAFCo is now preparing a resolution documenting the outcome of its Jan. 18 protest hearing, which will then be sent to the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors. The Board of Supervisors must then set an election to accomplish the final steps in the FPD formation process.
”A few conditions must be satisfied (in that election),” Williamson said, “including voting on the special fire protection fee, and electing a district board of directors.”
While no date has yet been set for the elections in all four districts, there is a possibility it will be included on the June Primary ballot, which would save the costs associated with setting a special election.
