Hollister
– Business owners may soon be paying more for health
inspections, but the proposed increases have been scaled back from
those suggested earlier this year.
Hollister – Business owners may soon be paying more for health inspections, but the proposed increases have been scaled back from those suggested earlier this year.
The County Health and Human Services Department will present the Board of Supervisors with a proposal today that staggers fee increases over a five-year period. The proposed hikes cover health permits for restaurants, liquor stores, farmers’ markets and more.
In order to further soften the blow to local business owners, the department’s proposal also includes cutting the frequency of restaurant and retail inspections from four to three per year.
Johnny’s Bar and Grill owner Charisse Tyson was critical about the potential increases when she heard about them in January, but she said Monday that the new proposal sounds fair.
“At least they’re doing something,” she said. “Spacing things out over five years makes it a lot better.”
If supervisors approve the new fees, the annual permit cost for a restaurant with 50 seats or less will increase from $226 to $302 over a five-year period, according to a health department report. Under one of the initial proposals, the permit fee would have immediately increased to $403.
“In my book, it’s a compromise,” Supervisor Anthony Botelho said. “We’re all sensitive to increasing fees. But costs continue to go up, and that’s true with government as well.”
Main Street Bistro owner Megan Ward said the proposed increase won’t hurt her business.
“There are a lot of bigger expenses in a restaurant,” she said.
Ward also said getting a health permit isn’t a particularly tough or complicated process.
“It’s a really easy process and it’s really inexpensive,” she said. “It’s definitely worth it for everybody.”
Health and Human Services Director Kathy Flores previously told the Free Lance that fees need to increase substantially – more than 70 percent in some cases – because they haven’t gone up since 1996. In order to avoid big hikes in the future, Flores is proposing automatic annual increases that are based on the San Francisco Bay Area’s Consumer Price Index.
Tyson acknowledged that health inspection fees aren’t a major expense at Johnny’s, but she said every penny counts.
“It’s just one in a whole bunch,” she said. “All those things add up.”
Anthony Ha covers local government for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or
ah*@fr***********.com
.
