At your meeting on August 6, 2024, Mayor Davis suggested that a discussion should occur at your next meeting in regard to the fire inspection fees that were instituted in conjunction with the adoption of the FY23/24 Comprehensive Fee Schedule. As you may recall, when the agenda item was presented, Chief Fitch reported that both Pasco County and the City of Port Richey are currently charging for fire inspection services. He additionally reported that his recommendation was to adopt the same fee schedule that they both were following. At the conclusion of the presentation, the FY23/24 Comprehensive Fee Schedule was adopted with a unanimous vote by Council. The City has collected over $30,000 in fees since the schedule was instituted.
From my perspective, if is appropriate for local governments to use charges and fees to help fund services particularly when certain services provided benefit a particular group that receive benefits from such services.