‘County to Refund Fees to Restaurants’

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San Bernardino County will start mailing $408 checks Monday to more than 500 restaurants and community groups as it re-examines a fee approved last year on businesses with soda machines. … (Continued below) …

… From The Press-Enterprise, Feb. 20, 2010, By Imran Ghori, Staff Writer … (Continued below) …

The refunds, totaling about $200,000, were ordered by the Board of Supervisors earlier this month after some businesses raised concerns about the new requirement for an annual fee on restaurants and other groups that store carbon-dioxide gas for soda machine dispensers.

The San Bernardino County Fire Department is reviewing possible changes to the program that could result in either a lower fee or exempting businesses that store only small quantities of carbon dioxide, said Doug Snyder, fire marshal for the hazardous waste division.

Businesses and other groups that already paid the fees will get refunds in the mail starting Monday, he said.

The new fee was approved by county supervisors last July along with several other existing and revised fire-service fees.

It was included due to a decades-old state regulation that the California Environmental Protection Agency had been urging the county to adopt, Snyder said. Several counties, including Riverside, already have enacted similar fees.

The regulation also requires businesses that stored more than 200 cubic feet of carbon dioxide gas to submit storage and emergency response plans. It ended up applying not only to restaurants that carry soda dispensers but also to nonprofit, fraternal and religious organizations that did so.

Linda Crosby, manager of the Tartan of Redlands restaurant, said she was surprised by the fee last year and found it time-consuming to put together the plan. She called the refund “fabulous.”

“It’s nice to get one back,” she said.

Supervisors Paul Biane and Brad Mitzelfelt said they would like the revised ordinance to exempt businesses that store only a small amount of carbon dioxide. Supervisors did not realize a new fee was included when it was approved with the Fire Department fee schedule in July, said Scott Vanhorne, a spokesman for Biane.

“In this economy, the county should be reducing — not adding — burdens on small businesses so they can keep people employed and hire more employees as they grow,” Biane said in a statement.

Snyder said he had no timeline for when the revised regulation would go back before supervisors. He said the Fire Department intends to hold workshops and meet with representatives from the restaurant industry as it considers changes.

Reach Imran Ghori at 951-368-9558 or ighori@PE.com

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