Environmental Health Fees Set to Rise Again
RIVERSIDE (CNS) – The Board of Supervisors Tuesday set a May 20 public hearing to consider a series of proposed increases to fees for permits issued by the Riverside County Department of Environmental Health, which is seeking double-digit percentage hikes for some services.
In a 5-0 vote without comment, the board signed off on agency Director Jeff Johnson’s request for a hearing on alterations to the fee schedule going into fiscal year 2025-26. Johnson put the board on notice in January that proposed adjustments were in the works.
The department relies on the regional Consumer Price Index to gauge inflationary pressures on its budget, as well as consider other factors, such as demand on staff and resources, to make decisions regarding how much to raise fees in specific categories.
The agency minimized fee changes from 2020 to 2023, but returned with a request for significant revisions last year.
“We go back and analyze what we do. We ask if we can do some things better, create efficiencies,” Johnson told the board in April 2024. “We’ve had to absorb costs internally, but we’re a lean machine.”
The permit and inspection fees the department is seeking to increase cover a broad regulatory scheme, from food facilities to farm stands, and swimming pools to septic tanks.
Among the fees slated for an increase is the cost for a new tattoo parlor plan check, which would go from $526 to $796, a 34% jump.
The inspection fee assessed for a swimming pool replaster would increase to $398, compared to $252 now, a 37% difference.
The cost of inspecting a commissary’s prepackaged food items would go from $682 to $705, up 3%. A new fee would be established for inspecting unpackaged edibles in a commissary: $776.
A new fee would also apply for fulfilling a public records request, which would result in a $7 up-front charge.
To inspect an outlet selling tobacco products would cost $502 after July 1. The current charge is $477. The cost of scrutinizing the sanitary standards of a produce stand would go from $299 to $315, a 5% change, and the inspection of any temporary event that involves commercial food sales or distribution would go from $318 to $326, a 2% increase.
A few fees would be left unchanged, including the food handler certification fee, which would remain at $28, and the department’s overall administrative processing fee, which would stay at $82.
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