Submitted by Thurston County Board of County Commissioners
At a special meeting on Friday, December 14, the Thurston County Board of Health approved a 10% fee increase for Environmental Health programs in Thurston County.
The increase is intended to improve services to both residents and businesses in the County, and reduce wait times when processing land use and septic permits. The fee proposal increases most Environmental Health fees by 10% and these resources will help the citizens by:
- Improving customer service quality
- Reducing permit backlog times for customers
- Reducing overtime costs
- Decreasing deferred/delayed work
“The fee is a response to an increase in permit volume of 30 percent since 2014,” said Art Starry, Environmental Health Division Director. “We want to increase our capacity to serve the residents and businesses of Thurston County, and are planning for the continuing increase in demand that is expected as the population, and popularity, of our County as a place to live and work continues to grow.”
The Board of Health received public comment on the proposed fee increase at a November 27, 2018 public hearing. In addition to the hearing, public outreach included notice of the November 27 hearing in local papers, emails to licensed septic system professionals, post cards to permitted food service establishments, a webpage specific to the fee request, and posts on social media. Community members were invited to call or submit written comments if they could not attend the hearing.
For additional information about the fee increase, visit: https://www.co.thurston.wa.us/health/ehadm/proposed_fee_schedule.html
You can also view the fee increase presentation as presented to the Board at: https://bit.ly/2SQTUSk
