FINAL BILL REPORT

                  SSB 5619

                           FULL VETO

                     As Passed Legislature

Brief Description:  Modifying the forest fire protection assessment process.

Sponsors:  Senate Committee on Natural Resources, Parks & Recreation (originally sponsored by Senator Jacobsen; by request of Office of Financial Management).

Senate Committee on Natural Resources, Parks & Recreation

House Committee on Natural Resources

Background:  The Department of Natural Resources provides fire protection on private lands, which is funded partially by an assessment on private landowners and partially by the general fund.  Fire protection includes both preventive measures and the actual fighting of fires when they occur.  Forest landowners of small parcels can get a refund for fire assessments on more than one parcel in each county where they own land.

Summary:  Owners of small parcels of forest lands may submit an application listing the parcels owned to the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for the computation of forest fire protection assessments.  The property owner may submit only one application per county.  DNR must compute the assessment and allocate one parcel for collecting the assessment.  The county bills the assessment to this one identified parcel.  The property owner is required to notify  DNR of any changes in ownership of the parcels.

Property owners with the following number of parcels may apply to DNR in the year indicated:

Year             Number of Parcels

     2000             10 or more parcels

     2001               8 or more parcels

     2002               6 or more parcels

     2003               4 or more parcels

     2004 and thereafter     2 or more parcels

Votes on Final Passage:

Senate 46 0

House     92 0 (House amended)

Senate    44 0 (Senate concurred)