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Board committee advances ordinance to set fees, procedures for home-based food sellers
Summary
The Budget & Finance Subcommittee moved to recommend an ordinance that implements a state cottage-food law, describing two tiers of home-based food operations and a low-fee structure; Department of Public Health and the budget analyst discussed limited inspections, revenue estimates and staff costs.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors’ Budget & Finance Subcommittee on May 1 advanced an ordinance to implement the state cottage-food law and set local fees and procedures for home-based food businesses.
Richard Lee of the Department of Public Health’s Environmental Health unit told supervisors the state law (identified in the transcript as “AB 16 16”) that took effect Jan. 1, 2013, created two tiers for home kitchens. One tier allows direct sales to the public with registration and no DPH inspection; the higher tier allows sales to stores or restaurants and requires an annual DPH inspection and permit. Lee said the law limits cottage-food products to items listed by the California Department of Public Health — non–potentially hazardous foods such as dried pasta, baking mixes, candy and many baked goods that do not require refrigeration.
Lee said revenue limits in the law start at $35,000 in the first year and rise to a $50,000 cap by February 2015. The department will administer the program through its environmental health unit and fold fees into existing public-health and food-fee collections, he said.
Harvey Rose, the budget analyst, presented the financial review. Rose reported DPH staff-time and overhead costs for fiscal 2012–13 of $26,006 and estimated annual fee revenues of about $25,008.60, which would recover roughly 99.4 percent of DPH costs for the program. Rose recommended approval of the proposed ordinance.
Supervisor Eric Marr praised the ordinance as a way to help microbusinesses and confirmed with staff that environmental-health would administer the permitting and inspections for the tier that sells to businesses. After a period for public comment (none was offered), the committee voted to forward the item to the full Board with the committee’s recommendation.
The committee moved the item forward without recorded opposition; the full Board will consider formal adoption.
