Proposed Fee Increase for Restaurant Inspections Program in Multnomah County

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The dining room at Montelupo, right after they opened this seating inside. Photo credit: Montelupo

I normally don’t talk about something so technical here on Bridgetown Bites, but this topic of fee increases as it applies to restaurants in Portland caught my eye. I got curious about the details, and am sharing them with you.

I heard about this business of restaurant fees last week and was reminded about it in an email today: a proposed “fee update” for restaurants regarding inspections is going to before the Multnomah Country Board of Commissioners this Thursday, October 19, in a meeting that starts at 9:30am. Andrea Hamberg, Interim Public Health Director and Jeff Martin, Environmental Health Manager made this funding request.

According to the Agenda Placement Request, the name of this agenda item is “Establishing Fees, Charges and Penalties for Chapter 21, Health, of the Multnomah County Code, and Repealing Resolution No. 2021-061.” A later description is “Adoption of resolution updating food, pool, and tourist/traveler facility license fees.” It does not impact the budget, “which already assumes the associated revenue.” This tells me they are confident this increase will happen. My understanding is that there has been some pushback this month.

It’s About Restaurant Inspections

Indeed, the fee increase has to do with restaurant inspections. I am sure all of us appreciate that restaurants are inspected for health and safety, with quality standards in mind. They say they can’t currently support the inspection program, its staff, and resources “to meet the statutorily required level of regulatory oversight to ensure the public’s health.”

Apparently, the pandemic is one of the reasons they need to increase fees, as they did not raise fees during that time. Like many things in this world, costs have increased (currently they are taken care of by the General Fund) and inflation is real. The increased cash flow to the county will allow them to costs related to inspections, monitoring, and licensing, beginning in January 2024.

On the topic of cash flow, Multnomah County has shown me that they like to collect money but not spend it as we understood they would, so I will tell you I fell kinda burned by them. I will try to keep an open mind, though.

Fee Increases: The Numbers

Here are some actual figures to keep in mind:

“Adoption will allow the inspections program to increase fees by 6% ($336,439) to help recover the costs of administering the program. This revenue is assumed in the FY 2024 adopted budget. The proposed fee increase was also approved by OHA [July 31, 2023] and the Multnomah County Food Service Advisory Committee [August 7, 2023].

“This fee increase is the first of four planned annual fee increases planned for FY 2024, FY 2025, FY 2026, and FY 2027. The increases are projected to be 6% for FY 2024, 8% for FY 2025, 8% for FY 2026, and 8% for FY 2026. [emphasis mine] These fee increases are expected to make the program self-sustaining by June of 2026.”

Here is a document with details of the desired fee increases effective January 1, 2024 and a shiny set of slides regarding fee increase FY 2024. There’s plenty of data there to help you come to your own mind on the issue.

The County Welcomes Your Input

Some of you may read this and think, “Well, that’s OK—the money has to come from somewhere.” Or maybe you think, “Dang, that’s a raw deal—restaurants have suffered enough.” Or something in between. If you want to voice your opinions, you can testify—live and in person/virtually. Guidelines on timing for testifying from the Multnomah Board of County Commissioners:

“Public comment on non-agenda items will be heard at the beginning of Thursday board meetings. Comments on agenda items are heard before the Board votes on that item. Depending upon time constraints, public comment may be limited to a few minutes for each person and/or for a limited period of time. Specifics will be announced at the beginning of the meeting or within agenda documents.”

And how to actually testify. Spoiler: The deadline to sign up for Thursday’s Board meeting is Wednesday, October 18, at 4pm.

“To testify in person: Please use the public testimony form to sign up to testify in person or to submit written testimony on agenda and non-agenda items. You may also use the forms available in the boardroom to sign up to testify on agenda or non-agenda items. For priority in securing a time slot for in person testimony on non-agenda items, it is recommended to register online.

“To testify virtually: Please use the public testimony form to sign up to testify or to submit written testimony on agenda and non-agenda items.”

Read more on how to participate on the Board Meetings page.