Assemblyman Jones joins effort to repeal state fire fee

Assemblyman Brian Jones of the 77th District, which includes Ramona, is working with other Republicans in support of Assembly Bill 1506 — legislation to repeal the state’s fire fee.

The fee, passed by the Legislature with a simple majority vote and signed by the governor as part of the 2011-12 budget, will charge property owners in rural areas for state fire protection.

“It wrongly labels a ‘tax’ as a ‘fee’ and also double-taxes residents by combining new ‘fees’ with current local fire district assessments,” said Jones.

“This will have a disproportionate and devastating financial impact on the residents of my district in East San Diego County.”

Jones testified before the state Board of Equalization last year to register his concerns regarding implementation of the fee, which mandates the collection on roughly 1 million structures in California. He called attention to Proposition 26, passed by California voters in 2010, which prohibits the Legislature from using loopholes to raise taxes by disguising them as fees and therefore circumventing the constitutional requirements for passing higher taxes.

“I encourage my constituents and all California taxpayers to contact the Democrat legislators that passed this illegal tax and insist they sign on in support of AB 1506,” he said.