Supervisors increase fire mitigation fees

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted March 2 to increase the fire mitigation fees assessed for new construction.

Since the increase involves an ordinance, it will return to the supervisors March 23 for a second reading and adoption. Assuming that it is adopted, the new fees will take effect on July 1.

Fees for non-agricultural buildings will increase from 32 cents to 34 cents per square foot, while fees for agricultural buildings will increase from eight cents to nine cents per square foot. Fees for agricultural buildings with sprinklers will remain at two cents per square foot, while fees for poultry and greenhouse buildings will remain at one cent per square foot. The increases were based on the Cost of Construction Index, which rose 10.25 percent between 2003 and 2004.

The county established the Fire Mitigation Fee Program in 1986 to provide funds to fire agencies in the unincorporated area. All fees collected must be used by the fire agency for the purpose of providing for capital facilities and equipment to serve new development. Because fire agencies do not have the legal authority to impose mitigation fees, the county collects a fee from building permit applicants on behalf of the 26 participating fire agencies and distributes the fees to agency accounts on a quarterly basis.

Fire agencies are required to provide annual reports on the amount of fees collected and expended, and the annual report also includes future planned expenditures as well as balances. A Fire Mitigation Fee Review Committee reviews the annual reports and evaluates the program for compliance with the county ordinance. The review committee consists of two fire chiefs (currently William Metcalf of the North County Fire Protection District and Erwin Willis of the Rancho Santa Fe Fire Protection District), one elected fire district director (currently Bob Winje of the Deer Springs Fire Protection District), and one representative apiece from the Building Industry Association (currently Jerry Livingston), the San Diego County Farm Bureau (currently Scott Lenz of DeLuz), the county’s Planning Commission (currently David Kreitzer of San Diego), the Department of Public Works Special District Section staff (currently Leslie Seifert), and the Department of Planning and Land Use (currently former North County Fire Protection District fire marshal and deputy fire chief Ralph Steinhoff, who is currently a fire services coordinator for DPLU). All 26 fire agencies were found to be in compliance for fiscal year 2003-04.

The ordinance allows fee ceilings to be increased or decreased in proportion to changes in the Engineering News Record’s Cost of Construction Index, allowing fire departments to keep pace with the actual cost to construct or expand facilities. The increase uses a base fee, with the base year 1999 being 1.00, so that rounding to the nearest cent is based on the cumulative increase rather than the single-year increase.

During fiscal year 2003-04 the 26 agencies received a total of $1,636,472.27. The North County Fire Protection District received $204,889.02, an amount exceeded only by the Rancho Santa Fe Fire Protection District. The Vista Fire Protection District, which includes a portion of Bonsall as well as unincorporated Vista, received $68,191.15.