Fees to Rise for Health Inspections : Budget: The money from the increases is to cover costs, not to boost county’s coffers, official says. Supervisors postpone a vote on the price of animal business licenses.

Fees for a host of county health inspections will increase between 6% and 31% on July 1, under a new fee schedule approved by the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.

James Huston, the county’s assistant director of environmental health, said the county would prefer not to raise the health inspection fees for restaurants, hospitals and hotels, but the costs of the inspections have gone up since the last fee increase two years ago.

“There’s concern by us about the economy and the impact on businesses,” Huston said. The money from the fee hikes is meant to cover the increasing costs of performing the inspections, not to be a boost to the general county budget, he added.

The fee for most restaurant inspections will increase between 6% and 7%. The restaurant fee increase will comprise the bulk of the new revenue, contributing $402,322 of the $426,330 expected to be generated annually.

Other establishments such as tattoo and massage parlors will see their inspection fee increase 6.92%, from $130 to $139.

The largest increases are for surveys to determine if sewage is being disposed of properly.

Inspections for the cleaning of septic tanks and chemical toilets will go up to $112, which is 31.76% more than the previous fee of $85. A check on the sewage systems plan for a new parcel of land will rise 6.91% to $318.

The supervisors also approved a 20% increase in the fee for quarantining a dog or cat after it has bitten or scratched someone. As of July 1, pet owners will have to pay $30, up from $25.

The only increases not approved by the board were those for animal businesses such as grooming parlors and rodeos.

Supervisor William G. Steiner asked Judy Maitlen, the head of the county’s animal control department, why the proposed license fee for grooming parlors was $85, up from $52. Maitlen responded that the $85 was comparable to the fee in other jurisdictions.

Steiner and Supervisor Roger R. Stanton said they could not support the increase if it was being done for any other reason than to recover the actual cost of the licensing.

A date for the vote on the animal business license fees has not been set.

Rising County Fees

The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved new fees for a variety of county health inspections. The new fees are effective July 1.

Current fee New fee Mobile food preparation unit 328 349 Tattoo parlor 130 139 Motel, hotel (215-500 rooms) 368 400 Animal quarantine 25 30

Source: Board of Supervisors