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Board amends unified fee schedule; directs staff to work with farmers-market operators on temporary-food fees
Summary
After public comment from farmers-market operators, the board adopted amendments to the county unified fee schedule and directed environmental health staff to work with market operators on a revised, equitable temporary-food-permit approach for farmers markets.
The Board of Supervisors adopted amendments to the countyunified fee schedule on June 10 and directed staff to work with local farmers-market operators to develop an equitable approach to temporary-food fees at certified farmers markets.
Representatives of the Santa Cruz Community Farmers Market Association and other market operators told the board that the county—nvironmental Health temporary-food permit is being applied per location as well as by operator, producing substantially higher annual fees for operators that run multiple markets. Tom Burrows, representing the Santa Cruz Farmers Market Association, asked the board to eliminate what he characterized as a duplicate "event organizer" permit or otherwise reduce the cost burden.
Environmental Health Director Andrew Strader explained that under state law two distinct permits exist (the certified farmersmarket permit and the temporary event organizer permit), and counties typically administer both; he said most counties levy comparable fees and that the department had already set a reduced fee in past studies. Strader also noted the board may elect to subsidize fees, but that subsidies would in effect shift costs to other permit holders and department services.
After discussion the board directed environmental health staff to work with the farmers-market operators to propose a revised fee schedule that would address the concern about charging a temporary-food annual fee per location rather than per operator. The board adopted the unified fee-schedule amendments and added the direction for staff-level collaboration on an equitable farmers-market fee approach.
What happens next: Environmental Health will meet with farmers-market operators and report back with options for adjusting temporary-food-permit fees and inspection scheduling for certified farmers markets; any fee changes would be returned to the board for adoption as part of future fee updates.
Note: This article summarizes board direction and staff responses; specific per-location fees and dollar figures will be finalized during the follow-up process with Environmental Health and the Farmers Market Association.
