As explained elsewhere, general improvement districts (“GIDs”) are limited purpose forms of local government with very little means of generating revenue. So when they undertake functions beyond their limited purpose(s), such as fuels management or defensible space, generating the revenues necessary to financially support them becomes a challenge. Not to worry though. Our little Incline Village General Improvement District (“IVGID”) is up to the challenge!

If one examines the District’s financial reporting, one will discover that $100,000 of fuels management or defensible space revenue is assigned to the District’s Water¹ and/or Sewer² Funds (which are sub-funds under the District’s umbrella Utility Fund), and an additional $100,000 is assigned to the District’s Community Services Fund³. What exactly is fuels management or defensible space?

If one examines IVGID staff’s accounting glossary within the budget the Board adopts each year, one will find the following definition for the term “fuels management:” “service work to create or maintain defensible space on District
Property, also known as (aka) Defensible Space.”⁴ Since this definition really doesn’t accurately describe the term, we’ve looked elsewhere and can state that: “the term ‘fuels’ (as in Fuels Management)…is used in the fire service (industry) as something that burns in the environment. We deal with the problem of an overstocked forest with dense brush that has led to the listing of Incline Village/Crystal Bay as an ‘Extreme Hazard’ as defined in the Code of Federal Registrar.”⁵ “Defensible Space” on the other hand “is…the buffer (one) create(s) between a building on (one’s) property and the grass, trees, shrubs, or any wildland area that surround it. This space is needed to slow or stop the spread of wildfire and it helps protect (one’s) home from catching fire — either from direct flame contact or radiant heat.”⁶ In other words, “defensible space is simply a (private) homeowner’s properly maintained backyard.”⁷

Insofar as IVGID is concerned, “the goal (of fuels management)…is to create a ‘halo’ around the community restricting the movement of wildfire in or out…The substance of those efforts removes vegetation and other fuels as they accumulate…rang(ing) from clearing the understory to major tree removal and fuels reduction.”⁸ “This work also provides a protective boundary for (all of) the homes (and other properties) of Incline Village and Crystal Bay.”⁹ “The (2007) Angora (and 2021 Caldor) Fire(s) in South Lake Tahoe and wild fires in other mountain regions continue to remind us of the significance of this effort in our community.”⁸

In 1991 the District initiated a formal “Fuels Management Program…in a collaboration with the (North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District) NLTFPD”⁸ given the NLTFPD serves essentially the same geographic area as the District. “Annually approximately $450,000 to $500,000 is spent to maintain the 1,000+acres of land IVGID owns.”⁸ The degree of work in any given area¹⁰ rotates over time based on conditions as assessed⁶.

The District’s annual contribution towards misnomered defensible space (it should accurately be labeled “fuels management”) costs is $200,000. These monies come from two funding sources. “The defensible space fee on the (monthly) Public Works (utility bill) statement (i.e., the water fees local property owners pay¹¹ or guaranty¹² funds)…50% of the IVGID share of costs…The other 50% share…is paid by the IVGID Recreation Facility Fee”¹³ (“RFF”). Since staff report there are 8,203 parcels/dwelling units assessed the RFF¹⁴, and the District is collecting $100,000 annually from local property/dwelling unit owners’ water/sewer bills for defensible space, each property/dwelling unit owner is paying roughly $25 annually to protect all property owners, non-property owning residents, inhabitants, visitors, invitees and business customers¹⁵ to/within Incline Village/Crystal Bay from the consequences of a devastating wildfire.

1. See page 139 of the packet of materials prepared by staff in anticipation of the Board’s May 26, 2021 meeting (“the 5/26/2021 Board packet“). $50,000 of this revenue has been assigned to “charges for services” because a like amount has been expensed for “defensible space.”
2. See page 140 of the 5/26/2021 Board packet.
3. See page 144 of the 5/26/2021 Board packet.
4. See page 159 of the 2019-20 Budget.
5. See https://www.nltfpd.org/fuels-managment-division.
6. See https://www.readyforwildfire.org/prepare-for-wildfire/get-ready/defensible-space/_note.
7. Go to https://www.nltfpd.org/defensible-space.
8. See page 4 of IVGID’s 2018 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (“the 2018 CAFR”).
9. See the District’s “About Rates and Billing” web page.
10. “Manual fuel treatments consist of both brush and tree removal by hand to meet the above objectives. Where feasible, mechanical thinning involving heavy equipment is used to reduce cost and increase efficiency. Prescribed burning is an additional step to manual treatment…The burning not only reduces wildfire risk but promotes forest regeneration.”⁵
11. Page 66 of the 2018 CAFR depicts a Schedule of Revenues, Expenses and Changes in Net Position to the District’s Utility Fund. Thereon IVGID represents that $100,000 was budgeted for defensible space. Note how this admission differs from the District’s budget representations discussed above.
12. ¶9.06 of Ordinance 4, the District’s Water Ordinance, states that “all charges, fees and amounts due and payable shall be billed to the owner of the premises, whether or not the owner is also the occupant.”
13. Page 87 of the 2018 CAFR depicts “Budgeted Facility Fees per parcel, (over the) Last Ten Fiscal Years.” If one scrolls down the page one will see that $12 of our RFF funds “Defensible Space” (actually, it’s slightly more – $12.15).
14. See page 183 of the 5/26/2021 Board packet.
15. In other words, the general public as a whole.