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H0418........................................................by MR. SPEAKER
Requested by: Department of Lands
FOREST LANDS - ASSESSMENT - Amends existing law to increase the maximum
cost of patrol and protection provided by the director of the Department of
Lands for private owners of forest lands; and to increase the amount
assessed for certain privately owned forest land to defray costs associated
with fire suppression.
01/07 House intro - 1st rdg - to printing
Rpt prt - to Res/Con
|||| LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO |||| Fifty-sixth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2002IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES HOUSE BILL NO. 418 BY MR. SPEAKER Requested by: Department of Lands 1 AN ACT 2 RELATING TO FOREST PROTECTION; AMENDING SECTION 38-111, IDAHO CODE, TO 3 INCREASE THE MAXIMUM COST OF PATROL AND PROTECTION PROVIDED BY THE DIREC- 4 TOR OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LANDS FOR CERTAIN PRIVATE OWNERS, AND TO INCREASE 5 THE SURCHARGE LEVIED AND ASSESSED FOR CERTAIN LAND TO DEFRAY COSTS ASSOCI- 6 ATED WITH FIRE SUPPRESSION. 7 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho: 8 SECTION 1. That Section 38-111, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby 9 amended to read as follows: 10 38-111. PROTECTION BY OWNER -- ASSESSMENTS -- BUDGET OF PROTECTIVE DIS- 11 TRICTS. Every owner of forest lands in the state shall furnish or provide 12 therefor, throughout the closed season, protection against the starting, exis- 13 tence or spread of fires thereon, or therefrom, in conformity with reasonable 14 rules and standards for adequate protection, to be established by the state 15 board of land commissioners. An owner of forest lands who maintains a member- 16 ship in good standing in a forest protective association operating under 17 agreement with the state board of land commissioners, which association main- 18 tains a standard of protection approved by said board and who pays the assess- 19 ments to the association in the amounts required in this section, shall be 20 deemed to have fully complied herewith. In the event the owner of any forest 21 land shall neglect or fail to furnish the protection required in this section, 22 the director of the department of lands shall provide such patrol and protec- 23 tion therefor at actual cost to the owner of forest lands. For private owners 24 of forest lands whose total acres of forest lands are twenty-six (26) acres or 25 more, this cost shall not exceedforty-fivesixty cents (4560) an acre per 26 year. For private owners of forest lands whose total acres of forest lands are 27 twenty-five (25) acres or fewer, the minimum assessment per year shall be 28 equal to the per acre cost multiplied by twenty-five (25). 29 In addition to any other assessment prescribed in this chapter, a sur- 30 charge shall be levied and assessed in the amount oftentwenty dollars 31 ($120.00) for each improved lot or parcel, to defray the cost of fire suppres- 32 sion on forest land caused by the existence of the improvements. 33 In the event an assessment is made in an amount less than the maximum 34 hereinbefore provided, and an actual loss occurs which exceeds the amount bud- 35 geted and for which assessments have been made, the director of the department 36 of lands, with the approval of the board, may require an additional assessment 37 to be made and paid, which together with the original assessment shall not 38 exceed the maximum assessment set forth in this section. Such additional 39 assessment shall be levied and collected in the same manner as herein provided 40 for the collection of such original assessments. The liability provided in 41 this section shall be calculated for each forest protection district or asso- 42 ciation separately, and shall be calculated solely upon the charges assignable 43 to fire control or presuppression of fires within each district or associa- 2 1 tion. 2 Each forest protective association actively engaged in forest protection 3 under agreement with the state board of land commissioners shall each year 4 prepare in detail, a budget of all estimated operating costs for the next cal- 5 endar year and shall submit this budget to the board for approval before June 6 30 of the current year. 7 Except for the provisions of section 38-122, Idaho Code, and cases of 8 proven negligence by the landowner or his agent, no other charges or assess- 9 ments for fire protection shall be made or assessed or collected from those 10 forest landowners participating as provided herein.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
RS 11442
Previously, the legislature has attempted to establish forest
protection landowner assessments so that landowners were funding
approximately 50% of the preparedness costs. The current cost of
fire preparedness is about $1.08/acre. The proposed legislation
amends Section 38-111, Idaho Code, to increase the landowner
assessment for forest protection from $0.45/acre to $0.60/acre, and
the improved lot or parcel surcharge from $10.00 to $20.00, which
will restore the landowner share of preparedness to about 50% for the
next few years.
FISCAL IMPACT
Revenues from forest landowner assessments will increase from about
$2,000,000 to $2,825,000 per year. These monies are deposited in the
forest protection dedicated account and utilized to defray wildland
fire preparedness costs.
CONTACT
Name: Winston Wiggins
Agency: Lands, Dept of
Phone: 334-0238
Statement of Purpose/Fiscal Impact H0418