Email from The Andy Caldwell Show $1 Million Fee Increase! Action Alert! If you are getting this email, that means your county fees are about to rise! The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors has scheduled a hearing on March 11 to consider a $1 million fee increase on businesses regulated by the County Environmental Health Department. The fees apply to permits and inspection costs for restaurants and food trucks, gas stations, auto repair facilities, water wells and water systems, septic systems, hazmat programs, and many more. 5700 businesses are affected. We believe this large fee increase is unwarranted and perhaps even illegal for the following reasons: 1. The county is not legally allowed to charge all employee costs for this program including the time a county inspector spends on vacation, sick leave, lunch, and breaks. 2. We believe most of these programs are for the benefit of public health, thereby, the county should offset the fees because they are mandated to protect public health. 3. These fees are being raised now only to keep up with county employee raises. We believe the county is not motivated to keep these salaries/fees in check because they are not helping to pay for the program. Please contact all five county supervisors (Lavagnino, Nelson, Hartmann, Capps, and Lee) and ask them to not pass this fee proposal without addressing the 3 points above. You can contact them at this email address: [email protected] Furthermore, please attend the hearing in person or remotely on Tuesday, March 11. The fee increase is agenda item D-5. It should be heard just before noon. WRITTEN Public Comment: Email your comment to the Clerk of the Board at: [email protected] IN-PERSON Public Comment: At the County Administration Building, Board Hearing Room, Fourth Floor located at 105 East Anapamu Street in Santa Barbara OR Betteravia Government Administration Building Board Hearing Room located at 511 Lakeside Parkway in Santa Maria. VIRTUAL Public Comment via Zoom: Use this link to make comment via Zoom: [link removed] Andy Caldwell Government Watchdog COLAB Santa Barbara County Contact Information COLAB PO Box 7523 Santa Maria, CA 93456 For more information, Andy Caldwell, 805-929-3148 [email protected] Join Our Email List! COLAB | PO Box 7523 | Santa Maria, CA 63456 US Unsubscribe | Constant Contact Data Notice