Fees Hiked for Many County Services

With Supervisor John K. Flynn in opposition, the Board of Supervisors approved hikes in fees and permits this week for hundreds of county services ranging from fire inspections to flu shots.

The increases were proposed to bring fees more in line with the rising cost to the county of providing the services. The new rates became effective Tuesday in most cases.

Flynn opposed the increases, arguing that the county’s policy of attempting to recover fully for the services provided to individuals and businesses needs another look.

He said the policy is a poor way to raise revenue during bad economic times, and that the public has had little say in the escalating fees.

The Building Industry Assn. of Greater Los Angeles and Ventura Counties also opposed the increases. Dee Boysen, executive officer of the organization, said most of the money generated by the fees and permits already comes from builders.

She complained that under the new rate structure, a cap on some rates would be removed with no limit on the amount that developers and builders could be billed.

However, Todd Collart, director of zoning administration for the county, said Ventura County had lost $72,000 last year with the caps in place.

Jere Robings, executive director of the Ventura County Taxpayers Assn., also opposed the increases, saying that government costs must be contained.

There is no way of knowing how much revenue the increases will provide, county officials say.

In a few areas, fees went down. About 14% of the county’s budget comes from the fees it charges consumers for services.

The four other supervisors agreed that the entire issue of revenue for services needs further study.

“If we don’t raise fees, we have a gap,” Supervisor Maggie Kildee said. “People don’t want their general taxes raised. Shall we cut back services?”