A bill signed late last month by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will mean tax relief for local residents whose homes were damaged either in the Station Fire or the floods last January and February that resulted from that fire.

The Station Fire, the worst fire in the county's history, damaged or destroyed 89 homes, many of them up in the Angeles National Forest, while the floods damaged or destroyed 86 homes in areas much closer to Altadena.

The bill was introduced by Altadena's representative, Assemblyman Anthony Portantino (D-Pasadena), who said it will help homeowners get back on their feet.

"It's a proper role for the state to play," Portantino said. "If we can help people who are in need rebuild their homes, we should do it."

Here's what the bill will mean for Altadena:

Though the Station Fire came right to the edge of some higher neighborhoods in Altadena, and those burn areas caused some flooding, the bulk of the serious damage was in neighboring cities such as La Canada Flintridge.

That means most Altadena residents won't benefit from one of the major provisions of the bill: the closing of a loophole that could have prevented some homeowners from taking advantage of a tax exemption that homeowners can claim on the first $7,000 in value on their home. That exemption is for a primary residence, preventing landlords from using it on property they own.

Because some homes were destroyed or damaged badly enough that people had to move out, technically they were unable to claim the house as their primary residence, keeping them from claiming the deduction.  This bill will allow them to retroactively make that claim.

But a second part of the bill could apply to Altadena residents who suffered less serious damage in the form of ash or smoke.

Existing tax code allows homeowners to make an itemized deduction for a property loss, such as ash or smoke damage that the homeowner paid for without getting reimbursed by his or her insurance company.

Current law allows homeowners to spreading that loss over five years.

Under Portantino's bill, the amount of the loss can be spread over 15 years.  That could be a meaningful impact if the amount is great enough that it can provide some amount of tax relief each year.