Comments on: Fire prevention fee ignites lawsuit, opposition gets watered down

By: Mabel

Mabel — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 21:40:49 +0000

this is a ridiculous tax . I cannot pay ONE MORE TAX! I tried making payments for the fire prevention fee … minimum you can pay on their website is $25, which I did. Then I got another bill, with a $36.00 PENALTY for making the payment! so they can take it & shove it. I am almost 65 and on disability; I cannot pay this tax the way they are handling it!

By: jerry wallander

jerry wallander — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 19:11:49 +0000

and if we refuse to pay it ?

By: Danbury

Danbury — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 20:03:53 +0000

This tax is a gross violation of the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution! A little, old widow on SSA pension, living in an old single-wide trailer on a rented lot, is charged the same as the mega-millionaire with a three story mansion with a barn, shop, stable, garage, etc on 100 acres of wooded land.

A person in an unincorporated community which has a mandatory fire fee is not exempt but if that same community incorporates he is exempt.

If this “fire prevention fee” is allowed to stand, we can soon expect an “Accident prevention fee” added to our already outrageous vehicle registration fees, an “Illiteracy prevention fee” added to school fees, and ad infinitum.

Further, the fire fees and others to follow, are annual fees, indexed for inflation.

If we allow this camel to get its nose under the edge of the tent, we will be outside and the tent till belong to the camel.

IF the courts rule this fee system legal, we must start recalls of the governor and any politician who voted this rip off into “law.” In fact, CA already did it with a State Supreme Court chief justice. Let’s do ‘em all if we have to.

By: mark

mark — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 23:01:45 +0000

Wake up all you California libs, you voted for these idiots that dont give two s_ its about you. Knock, knock, thier bankrupt and looking for any way to steal your money to pay for their pensions and government BS. Good old Jerry Brown, please tell me how this puke was elected again. I’ll be moving out of Califu_ckya like every other person with a brain cell and then watch the meltdown, cause it’s going to colapse, just a matter of time.

By: gs

gs — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 04:57:34 +0000

The state is rapidly approaching a tipping point of unfair taxation, where these stupid fire fees are just the beginning. Soon our DMV fees will double and triple. Then there will be additional use taxes on email and internet access “per computer”. Why stop with a 1/4% sales tax, why not make it 10%. Sacramento is worse than Washington, just say no to spending.

By: Tom Scott

Tom Scott — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 19:41:29 +0000

The voters were stupid enough to vote away the requirement for a 2/3 vote to instute new “fees” in 2011. What did they think would happen? I mean there are really still people out there that don’t know that the government will abuse any power whatever that they are given? So now, there won’t be any new taxes, they require a vote of the people after all. All we will have is new fee after new fee. While UC trustees make 700K a year and retire on almost that amount and our kids get out of school with 20 years of debt built in. Geeze. Stop voting to give the government more power.

By: jk

jk — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 18:52:25 +0000

What most people don’t understand is this fee is arbitrary, meaning this year it is $150 and next year it could be $0 or $125,000! That’s why it has to be STOPPED!

By: Bill

Bill — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 18:40:00 +0000

It is worth noting that this “fire fee” is not only for San diego county but the entire state of California. There are over 800,000 livable structures affected by this bill.

Hopefully it will be struck down by the courts as an illegal and discriminatory additonal property tax. What I would like to see is not only a refund, but a penalty and interest paid back to those who have paid their bills in order to avoid the same by the state of California.

The only way to prevent illegal actions on the part of government is to implement a punitive measure just as is done to the general public when we break a law.