BURBANK : Nonprofits Receive Fire-Fee Waivers

Nonprofit organizations staging events such as parades may receive waivers to avoid paying fees for fire protection in Burbank, the City Council has decided.

The Fire Department asked the council to change a city policy mandating the fees after nonprofit agencies complained the fees were a financial hardship, especially since such events are held as fund raisers. The department also found that, as worded, the policy required city agencies to pay the fee for city-sponsored events.

“While the Fire Department continues to support requiring fire permits to ensure compliance with all applicable fire codes, it equally feels it is counterproductive to charge nonprofits and governmental organizations (including the city itself) for those permits,” the department said in a memo to the council. The council approved the change Tuesday night.

The average fee is about $50 per float for parades while carnivals, such as those put on by schools and churches, were charged fees between $50 to $100, Fire Marshal Darryl Forbes said. “My personal feeling as a parent with children in Burbank schools that this can be quite a burden when sometimes you only raise about $300 or $400,” Forbes said.

For-profit businesses or groups that put on street fairs or parades still have to pay the fees.