Homeowners Won’t Be Penalized on Brush Fee
Homeowners who are late in paying a controversial $13 brush inspection fee for 1999 will face no penalty under an ordinance approved Wednesday by the Los Angeles City Council.
The inspection scheme that the council passed in January specified that homeowners who failed to pay the $13 fee on time would face a 200% penalty.
While inspections went forward, a protest over the new fee caused repeated delays. The council action Wednesday places a moratorium on penalties until Jan. 1, when the new year could bring a new brush inspection fee. It came as the content of a long-promised rewritten notice of the new fee remains under review by the mayor’s office, according to Steve Rubin, the mayor’s budget director.
The mayor is to meet next week with representatives from the city attorney’s office, the Fire Department and the chief legislative analyst and city administrative officer for further review, Rubin said.
The letter will probably not be mailed before the end of the month, but brush inspections will not be delayed.
“Holding up the letter in no way puts in jeopardy the Fire Department’s program,” Rubin said.
About $930,000 in fees has already been collected, according to Fire Department Deputy Chief Jimmy Hill.
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