Senate OKs Tax Relief Bill for Fire Victims

The state Senate approved a bill Thursday that provides tax relief to homeowners in Laguna Beach and other Southern California cities who lost their homes during the firestorms that swept the region last fall.

With a 30-0 vote, the Senate sent the measure, by state Sen. Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach), to the desk of Gov. Pete Wilson, who has promised to sign it.

The measure provides enhanced tax write-offs for residents who lost their homes in the fires, which caused $1 billion in damage to private and public property over the course of a few weeks.

In addition, the bill authorizes an estimated $1.3 million in state aid to the six counties that stand to lose revenue because property tax assessments were adjusted downward for residents whose homes were destroyed by fire. The counties hit by fires were Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura and San Diego.

Similar tax benefits were provided in other regions hit by recent disasters, such as the Oakland Hills fire and the Loma Prieta earthquake in the San Francisco Bay Area. Earlier this week, Wilson signed tax relief legislation for residents devastated by the powerful Northridge earthquake in January.

Bergeson said she tried to push the legislation so that residents can take advantage of it before the April 15 deadline for filing personal income tax returns. She said Wilson will probably sign the bill as soon as it hits his desk in the next few days.

“It is difficult to put into words the destruction the fire caused in Laguna Beach alone,” Bergeson said. “California has had to endure so many disasters lately, such as the Northridge earthquake, that many people have forgotten the horrific fires of October and November. I guarantee that those affected have not been forgotten.”