Supervisors approve fire mitigation fee assessments on property owners

RIVERSIDE (CNS) - The Board of Supervisors today approved the Riverside County Fire Department's request to attach fire mitigation charges to the tax bills of more than 300 property owners who officials say have not paid the cost of abating weeds and other potential fire hazards around their parcels."We have to recover our costs. We're not trying to pad our General Fund here,'' Supervisor Chuck Washington said ahead of the 5-0 vote.According to the fire department, 327 property owners in communities countywide are delinquent and owe a total $178,530 under the county's Fire Hazard Reduction Program. The amounts stem from activity in calendar year 2020.The reduction program involves deploying contractors to clear weeds and related overgrowth that might otherwise fuel brus