Agenda 04-01-2004 - Laserfiche WebLink

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PUBLIC HEALTH TASK FORCE 2004: PRELIMINARY RECOMMENDATIONS PUBLIC HEALTH IMPROVEMENT PLAN 16a) Empower local health departments to charge. fees for food and lodging program activities at local level to cover operational costs. Need Addressed /Rationale Local health directors and county commissioners on the finance committee highlighted the tremendous local burden that environmental health services/ programs in general put on county governments. Additionally, it was evident from several of the documents that we have reviewed, as well as the review of DPH funding, that the amount of funding that the state provides to local health departments to support environmental health is extremely small. Currently, local health departments are allowed to charge a fee to support the on -site sewage program (septic tank permitting) in their counties. This fee is set by the Board of Health and varies by health department. However, it is the local option to determine how much fee base they choose to have and how much local appropriations they use to support this activity. In contrast, local public health agencies are currently prohibited by state statute to charge a fee to support the Food and Lodging Program Currently, a fee of $50.00 is charged each food establishment once per year at the state level. The funds generated come to the state and are redistributed to locals according to a base of $5,500 with an additional amount provided if 100% of the county's restaurants are inspected the appropriate number of times. The total amount that any health department receives is significantly below the cost of the program (ranging from .07 to .66 per capita). Infrastructure /Capacity Improvement Will require legislative action to remove the prohibition from the current statute. Could eliminate the state fee based on the new local fee option. Budget FTEs No new funding required: (0) State : (0) Local 33