Ord 61ORDINANCE NO. 61
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF POWAY, CALIFORNIA
REVISING THE METHOD OF DISTRIBUTING
AND COLLECTING THE FIRE PROTECTION FEE
WHEREAS, a fire protection fee was established by the Poway Municipal Water
District prior to incorporation of the City of Poway; and
WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Poway has determined that to the
extent practicable the fire protection fee should be distributed to all property
of the City based on the properties relative need for standby fire suppression
services; and
WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Poway has determined that the prior
method of distributing and collecting fire protection fees did not take into
consideration the use of the property, the relative size and type of construc-
tion of the structures on the property, nor did it include undeveloped property
or property with wells.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED by the City Council of the City of Poway as
follows:
Section 1. That the City Council of the City of Poway has determined that
the most equitable method for distributing the cost of standby fire suppression
services is on the basis of the relative fire flow required to provide fire
protection to a given piece of property.
Section 2. That the following schedule of points shall be assigned to
properties in the City to compute the relative cost of fire suppression
charges.
RESIDENTIAL (includes apartments, mobile homes)
10 points each per
dwelling unit
COMMERCIAL, INDUSTRIAL, INSTITUTIONAL
20 points per 1,000 GPM
required fire flow
(minimum 500 GPM,
maximum 12,000 GPM per
building)
IRRIGATED FARMLAND (each parcel)
4 points per acre -
(maximum 10 acres)
UNIMPROVED ACREAGE (vacant land)
2 points per acre -
(maximum 10 acres)
On residential lots of more than two (2) acres, the per acre
unit charge shall be added to the residential charge in
accordance with the irrigated or unimproved unit rating.
ORDINANCE NO. 6 1
Page 2
Section 3. The Fire Department shall be responsibile for calculating the
fire flow and maintaining a record of the calculation for all commercial, insti-
tutional, irrigational and unimproved acreage subject to the fire protection
fee. These records shall be made available to the property owner, leasee, or
resident of the property upon request. If a dispute exists regarding the calcu-
lation, the Fire Chief shall investigate and render a final written decision
which shall be mailed to, or otherwise made available to the person requesting
the investigation.
If as a result of the Fire Chiefs investigation it is determined that the
calculation was incorrect, the Fire Chief shall be authorized to request that
the Director of Administrative Services adjust the current years fee for the
property in question by billing the property owner for the difference, or re-
funding any amount over billed.
For the purpose of the fire protection fee, all single family residences,
mobile home units, and apartment dwelling units shall be considered equal and
shall not be subject to a separate calculation.
Section 4. The total number of points in the City, using the schedule
outlined in Section 2, shall be calculated and this amount divided into the sum
to be collected annually to compute the value of each point. The value of each
point shall then be established annually by Resolution of the City Council and
used to calculate the fire protection fee for each piece of property in the
City.
Section 5. The Fire Department is authorized and instructed to prepare and
annually file with the Director of Administrative Services a written report
containing a description of each lot or parcel of property proposed to be sub-
ject to the fire protection fee for each fiscal year. Using the method
described in Section 4, the Administrative Services Department shall calculate
the amount of the fire protection fee to be charged to each parcel or lot. The
amount of the charge along with the description of each lot or parcel, shall
then be filed with the City Clerk. The City Clerk shall set a time and place
for a hearing to be held regarding the fire protection fees, and publish and
notice said hearing in accordance with the Government Code. Following adoption
of the charge, the Administrative Services Department shall provide for the
collection of the fee on the tax roll, water bill or by other method.
Section 6. Any time a lot or parcel changes status during the year which
would change its point designation as defined in Section 2, the Department of
Planning Services, with the assistance of the Fire Department, shall calculate
the effect on the fire protection fee for that lot or parcel and the net change
in the fee shall be collected at the time a final map is filed or a building
permit is issued, whichever may apply.
ORDINANCE NO. 61
Page 3
Introduced and first read at a regular meeting of the City Council of the
City of Poway held the 25th day of May, 1982 and thereafter PASSED AND ADOPTED
at a regular meeting of said City Council held the 1st day of June 1982 by
the following roll call vote:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
COUNCILMEMBERS Emery, Kruse, Oravec, Tarzy, Shepardson
COUNCILMEMBERS None
COUNCILMEMBERS None
Mary L. S~ardso~(, Mayor
~jorie 1~. Wahlsten, City Clerk