From SF Gate:
Starting next year, hundreds of thousands of Californians, including tens of thousands of Bay Area property owners, will be hit with a new $150 fire prevention fee that critics say is unnecessary and illegal.
The fee applies to residential and other habitable structures in rural areas throughout the state, where 90 percent of property owners and residents already pay local taxes for fire protection services. The fee will generate new revenue for the state – tens of millions of dollars more than the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection currently budgets for fire prevention.
And in six counties, including Marin, Cal Fire provides no fire protection services and actually pays local governments because they are not there. Even so, residents in those counties will be charged the state fee. In Marin County, the owners of more than 16,000 structures will get billed.
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