February
2006
Fresno Chamber
Reviews City Council Decision to Adjust Fire Inspection Fees
In a letter to the Fresno City Council in 2005, the Fresno
Chamber supports Fresno City Fire Chief Bruegman’s request for
an adjustment in the fire inspection fees. The Chamber's support
is conditioned on assurances by the City that the fire
department not lose revenues from other budget lines should an
increase in inspection fees take place.
The Chamber comes to this decision after much debate and
continued frustration over our earlier concerns that the
community is not seeing the “big picture” in terms of proposed
fee increases from other city departments. The Chamber urges
that any new items found on reinspections are treated as such
and that the reinspection on those items are treated as new with
no reinspection fee.
The Chamber appreciates the City Manager’s request of department
managers to run their fee increases by the Chamber with
sufficient time for the organization to analyze the impact on
business owners.
Summary
Over the past nine months the Fresno City Fire Department has
reviewed all master fees and services and identified several
improvement opportunities which more accurately capture the cost
of providing those services. Due to the enhanced fire inspection
program that the Fresno Chamber supported last year, the
department has been able to streamline its inspection process
thus reducing the time involved in the inspection. As a result
the department is recommending an amendment in the current fee
schedule which will reduce the fee for small businesses (1,000 -
2,000 sq. ft.) from $53.00 - $39.00.
There is also a recommendation to establish an additional
category for fire and life safety inspections to include R-1
occupancy types (Apartments/Hotel/Motel) and increasing the fee
for “I” occupancies (Hospitals/Nursing Homes/Mental Health
Facilities) to accurately capture the cost of services.
Contact Amy Huerta,
the Chamber's Government Affairs Manager for more information at
(559)
495-4818
or
ahuerta@fresnochamber.com
