City approves redesigned fire inspection procedures and fees

Not all changes to the City of South Lake Tahoe's master fee schedule results in higher fees for residents and business owners.

During Tuesday' City Council meeting, Kevin Fabino, Director of the Development Services Department, presented the new Fire/Life Safety Inspection Program, something all South Lake Tahoe businesses must participate in annually for the safety of their customers and staff. The SLT Fire Department conducted the inspections until 2011, but they were suspended due to staffing shortages until 2015 when a fire inspector was hired for Fabino's department.

Many small businesses in the community found fault the with City's annual fire inspection fees which, like all other fees, are based on cost recovery. When the fire department did the inspections they sent out a fire truck with staff when time allowed, so cost recovery was high. The inspection fee ran from $127 to $381 depending on the size of the business (up to 2,000 sq. ft., 2000 to 4000 sq. ft, 4000 to 10000 sq. ft., and above 10,000). Small business owners voiced concern about being lumped into larger businesses, thus costing more for the required fire inspections.

Fabino met with these small business owners to took at the policies and procedures, turning negative feedback into a positive outcome.

"I've really enjoying working with those who had complaints," Fabino told the Council.

Together they worked on the new policy which modified square footage limits, improved customer service, and gave business owners the ability to self certify after their initial approval.

"The cornerstone of the program's redesign was customer service," said Fabino.

Changes:

The new fee structure is now a $75 fee for businesses up to 1,000 sq. ft., $104 for those 1,001 to 4,000 sq. ft., $124 for businesses 4,001 to 9,000 sq. ft, and $158 for 9,001 square foot businesses and above.

The City will call and schedule inspections instead of showing up as time allowed, sometimes during a business's busiest times.

When a business is inspected they will be given the checklist used by the inspector so they may self-certify themselves annually.

At the current time, billing is performed by an out-of-town third party vendor, something the City will look at offering to a local business. They charge $18 per inspection.