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The Board of Supervisors Tuesday approved a series of increases to fees for permits issued by the Riverside County Department of Environmental Health, whose chief said the higher rates are not inflation-driven but necessary to keep the agency self-sustaining.
“This is a request to keep the department whole and out of the General Fund,” agency Director Jeff Johnson told the board. “We previously used the consumer price index for calculations, but we’re now relying on a (cost assessment) model. We’ve managed some efficiencies, and that’s reflected in our keeping costs low.”
Johnson noted that the department did not seek any fee adjustments for the current fiscal year and sought to offset expenses that have grown beyond what the agency can absorb going forward.
“We have the same number of staff, and we’ve been static for years now,” he said. “The costs for us to operate in different industries are going up.”
The permit and inspection fees that will be increased for fiscal year 2024-25 cover a broad regulatory scheme, from food facilities to farm stands, and swimming pools to septic tanks.
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Among the higher fees is the permit for a community temporary event. The greater the number of vendors, the bigger the cost for a Department of Environmental Health review. A permit for an event featuring 26 to 30 vendors will go from $3,644 to $3,863, while an event with 56 to 60 vendors will rise from $7,202 to $7,634.
A catering permit will go from $527 to $563, while a produce stand permit will only rise $9 to $398.
The cost of a permit to sell unpackaged edibles from a mobile food facility will increase from $589 to $624, and to host a certified farmers market, a $543 fee will be required for a permit, compared to $522 currently.
The cost of a permit for installation of an underground storage tank will jump from $1,328 to $1,380, and the fee for closing an underground system will go from $944 to $962.
Among the smallest increases was for food handler certification, which is currently a $27 fee. It will bump up to $28 under the amended fee schedule.
A few fees will be left unchanged, including the $140 inspection fee for a mobile home park and the 10-cent per page cost of clerical records supplied by the department.
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