2003 Legislation
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HOUSE BILL NO. 46 – Forest land owner/certain/assessmnt

HOUSE BILL NO. 46

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Daily Data Tracking History



H0046...........................................................by MR. SPEAKER
                      Requested by: Department of Lands
FOREST LAND OWNERS - Amends existing law to allow the State Board of Land
Commissioners to increase assessments for fire protection for private owners
of forest lands whose total acres of forest lands are twenty-six acres or more
from forty-five cents per acre to a maximum of sixty cents per acre; and to
allow the State Board of Land Commissioners to increase the improved lot or
parcel surcharge from ten dollars to a maximum of twenty dollars.
                                                                        
01/06    House intro - 1st rdg - to printing
    Rpt prt - to Res/Con
02/12    Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg
02/13    2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg
02/14    3rd rdg - PASSED - 62-1-7
      AYES -- Andersen, Barraclough, Bauer, Bedke, Bell, Black, Block, Boe,
      Bolz, Bradford, Campbell, Cannon, Clark, Crow, Cuddy, Deal, Denney,
      Douglas, Edmunson, Ellsworth, Eskridge, Field(18), Field(23), Gagner,
      Garrett, Harwood, Jaquet, Kellogg, Kulczyk, Lake, Langford, Langhorst,
      Martinez, McGeachin, McKague, Meyer, Miller, Mitchell, Moyle, Naccarato,
      Nielsen, Raybould, Ridinger, Ring, Ringo, Roberts, Robison, Sali,
      Sayler, Schaefer(Schaefer), Shepherd, Shirley, Skippen, Smith(30),
      Smith(24), Smylie, Snodgrass, Stevenson, Tilman, Trail, Wills, Mr.
      Speaker
      NAYS -- Henbest
      Absent and excused -- Barrett, Bieter, Collins, Eberle, Jones, Rydalch,
      Wood
    Floor Sponsor - Cuddy
    Title apvd - to Senate
02/17    Senate intro - 1st rdg - to Res/Env
03/06    Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg
03/07    2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg
03/11    3rd rdg - PASSED - 35-0-0
      AYES -- Andreason, Bailey, Brandt, Bunderson, Burkett, Burtenshaw,
      Calabretta, Cameron, Compton, Darrington, Davis, Gannon, Geddes, Goedde,
      Hill, Ingram, Kennedy, Keough, Little, Lodge, Malepeai, Marley,
      McKenzie, McWilliams, Noble, Noh, Pearce, Richardson, Schroeder,
      Sorensen, Stegner, Stennett, Sweet, Werk, Williams
      NAYS -- None
      Absent and excused -- None
    Floor Sponsor - Burtenshaw
    Title apvd - to House
03/12    To enrol
03/13    Rpt enrol - Sp signed
03/14    Pres signed
03/17    To Governor
    Governor signed
         Session Law Chapter 79
         Effective: 07/01/03

Bill Text


                                                                        
  ||||              LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO             ||||
 Fifty-seventh Legislature                 First Regular Session - 2003
                                                                        
                                                                        
                              IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
                                                                        
                                     HOUSE BILL NO. 46
                                                                        
                                       BY MR. SPEAKER
                             Requested by: Department of Lands
                                                                        
  1                                        AN ACT
  2    RELATING TO ASSESSMENTS ON OWNERS OF LAND FOR FOREST PROTECTION; AMENDING SEC-
  3        TION 38-111, IDAHO CODE, TO ALLOW THE STATE BOARD OF LAND COMMISSIONERS TO
  4        INCREASE THE  ASSESSMENT FOR PRIVATE OWNERS OF FOREST  LANDS  WHOSE  TOTAL
  5        ACRES  OF  FOREST LANDS ARE TWENTY-SIX ACRES OR MORE FROM FORTY-FIVE CENTS
  6        PER ACRE TO A MAXIMUM OF SIXTY CENTS PER ACRE AND TO INCREASE THE IMPROVED
  7        LOT OR PARCEL SURCHARGE FROM TEN DOLLARS TO A MAXIMUM  OF  TWENTY  DOLLARS
  8        FOR EACH IMPROVED LOT OR PARCEL.
                                                                        
  9    Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:
                                                                        
 10        SECTION  1.  That  Section  38-111, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
 11    amended to read as follows:
                                                                        
 12        38-111.  PROTECTION BY OWNER -- ASSESSMENTS -- BUDGET OF  PROTECTIVE  DIS-
 13    TRICTS.  Every  owner  of  forest  lands in the state shall furnish or provide
 14    therefor, throughout the closed season, protection against the starting, exis-
 15    tence or spread of fires thereon, or therefrom, in conformity with  reasonable
 16    rules  and  standards  for adequate protection, to be established by the state
 17    board of land commissioners. An owner of forest lands who maintains a  member-
 18    ship  in  good  standing  in  a  forest protective association operating under
 19    agreement with the state board of land commissioners, which association  main-
 20    tains a standard of protection approved by said board and who pays the assess-
 21    ments  to  the  association  in the amounts required in this section, shall be
 22    deemed to have fully complied herewith. In the event the owner of  any  forest
 23    land shall neglect or fail to furnish the protection required in this section,
 24    the  director of the department of lands shall provide such patrol and protec-
 25    tion therefor at actual cost to the owner of forest lands. For private  owners
 26    of forest lands whose total acres of forest lands are twenty-six (26) acres or
 27    more,  the  state  board of land commissioners shall establish this cost shall
 28    not to exceed forty-five sixty cents (4560) an acre  per  year.  For  private
 29    owners  of forest lands whose total acres of forest lands are twenty-five (25)
 30    acres or fewer, the minimum assessment per year shall be equal to the per acre
 31    cost multiplied by twenty-five (25).
 32        In addition to any other assessment prescribed in this chapter, the  state
 33    board of land commissioners shall establish a surcharge shall to be levied and
 34    assessed  in  the  an amount of ten not to exceed twenty dollars ($120.00) for
 35    each improved lot or parcel, to defray the cost of fire suppression on  forest
 36    land caused by the existence of the improvements.
 37        In  the  event  an  assessment  is made in an amount less than the maximum
 38    hereinbefore provided, and an actual loss occurs which exceeds the amount bud-
 39    geted and for which assessments have been made, the director of the department
 40    of lands, with the approval of the board, may require an additional assessment
 41    to be made and paid, which together with the  original  assessment  shall  not
 42    exceed  the  maximum  assessment  set  forth  in this section. Such additional
 43    assessment shall be levied and collected in the same manner as herein provided
                                                                        
                                           2
                                                                        
  1    for the collection of such original assessments.  The  liability  provided  in
  2    this  section shall be calculated for each forest protection district or asso-
  3    ciation separately, and shall be calculated solely upon the charges assignable
  4    to fire control or presuppression of fires within each  district  or  associa-
  5    tion.
  6        Each  forest  protective association actively engaged in forest protection
  7    under agreement with the state board of land  commissioners  shall  each  year
  8    prepare in detail, a budget of all estimated operating costs for the next cal-
  9    endar  year and shall submit this budget to the board for approval before June
 10    30 of the current year.
 11        Except for the provisions of section 38-122,  Idaho  Code,  and  cases  of
 12    proven  negligence  by the landowner or his agent, no other charges or assess-
 13    ments for fire protection shall be made or assessed or  collected  from  those
 14    forest landowners participating as provided herein.

Statement of Purpose / Fiscal Impact


                     STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

                             RS 12310

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 allow the State Board of Land
Commissioners to increase the landowner assessment for forest
protection from $0.45/acre to a maximum of $.60/acre, and the
improved lot or parcel surcharge from $10.00 to a maximum of
$20.00, which will restore the landowner's 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:        Ronald Litz, Assistant Dir
Agency:      Lands, Dept of
Phone:       208-666-8604

Statement of Purpose/Fiscal Impact                                                        H 4