Regarding SB-762, Oregon counties do have the right to appeal on behalf of the county to repeal the fire map – and that’s what they should do. Josephine County Commissioners did just that yesterday. The map is deeply flawed and will devalue properties in the county, make it nearly impossible to obtain homeowners insurance and create massive costs for property owners to comply with idiotic “hardening” demands by the state.
However, I believe the “fire map” was a red herring. While we were busy trying to undue the map nonsense, nobody took a hard look at what else is in the bill. There are allocations for “HEALTH SYSTEMS FOR SMOKE”, “EMERGENCY RESPONSE AND DISASTER RECOVERY”, “SMALL FORESTLAND GRANT PROGRAM” and on and on.
All these “programs” require money. That, of course, means more taxes. The law allows that “the forester may consider and include the special or additional cost of fire protection for property owners within a forestland-urban interface classification, including the special or unique costs of assessment processing and administration.” The law also states that the cost for fire protection to be a lien against property. If you cannot pay your taxes for fire protection, you may lose your property by foreclosure. Furthermore, SB-762 moves costs for fighting wildfires out of the general fund where it has historically always been. But moving those costs elsewhere does not, according to SB-762 reduce the general fund by that same amount. So, where will the legislature be putting those monies? You can bet it’s going to the bottomless pit of social engineering.
The entire bill must be withdrawn – not just the map. But, since the entire bill is predicated on the map, the rest of the bill cannot stand alone. Demand that the legislature rip this entire thing up and burn it. Yes. I said burn it.
This article is from a Guest Writer, Bob M.