Saturday, October 22, 2011

Torrance Daily Breeze: LA Council raises fees on more than 50 city permits

L.A. council increases fees on more than 50 city permits

By Rick Orlov Staff Writer
Torrance Daily Breeze
Posted: 10/21/2011 06:34:01 PM PDT
 
The cost of working in Los Angeles is about to get higher for people who need city permits to do their jobs.
From pawnbrokers and gun shops to skating rinks and dance clubs, the Los Angeles City Council on Friday increased the fees on more than 50 permits, including for the first time charging charities that need city approval to solicit money from residents.
 
The council approved the package of Los Angeles Police Department fee increases by a 12-0 vote, with officials saying they are needed to cover the city's cost of processing permit applications.
 
"This is an annual review of what it costs us to process these," said Councilman Bernard Parks, chair of the City Council's Budget and Finance Committee. "It used to be we increased these only every 10 years or so and people would get hit with 40 or 50 percent increases. Now we try to do it every year so it's less of a hit."
 
The new charitable permit fee was recommended by the Police Commission because of the number of requests it receives to solicit donations.
 
The Municipal Code requires any organization soliciting money for a public event to have a city information card.
 
"The information card provides important information to the donor so they may make educated decisions whether they support that organization," City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana said in a report to the council.

"According to the LAPD, the Charitable Services Section accepts approximately 2,000 Notice of Intention applications from charitable organizations."
 
Police Commission spokeswoman Tamryn Catania said there were no protests from any of the charities during the hearing. The organizations, which include some of the nation's largest such as the American Cancer Society and United Way, only need one permit per fundraising drive. It is not needed for each person soliciting for an organization.
 
Staff from the Charitable Services Section investigates each application to ensure compliance with local and state regulations, Santana said.
 
Kris Vosburgh, executive director of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Association, said his only concern is whether the fees are in excess of the costs to process the permits.
 
"We are always suspicious of what the City Council does - they seem to grab for every penny out there - but if it is for the cost of service, we're OK with that," Vosburgh said.
 
The charitable permit fees were among 56 increases approved by the council, with most in the $5 to $10 range.
 
The biggest increase is for new swap meet operators, whose permits climb from $111 to $347, and new massage parlor permits, which will rise from $741 to $813.
 
Antique shop permits increase from $252 to $272, while the fee to get a dance hall hostess permit increases from $276 to $382.
 
There was good and bad news for residents who are considering getting a burglar alarm system. The cost for the initial permit remains at $34 and the renewal also is unchanged at $30.
 
However, the charge for police responding to false burglar alarms will be increased from $139 to $151. The fee drew wide protests when it was first enacted, but it has cut in half the number of false alarms to the LAPD each year since the fees were put in place. And the false alarms continue to decline, with 3,160 fewer last year for a total of 42,381.
 
The false alarm fee was among a number of other services the LAPD performs that are getting more expensive.
 
For example, the cost of providing criminal arrest record summaries, usually for those who are seeking employment, is being increased from $16 to $64.
 
The department also is increasing the cost of press passes from $16 to $24.

In all, officials estimate the permit fees will bring in $13.6 million, about $300,000 more than last year. The LAPD's budget is about $1.3 billion and the total city budget is $6.9 billion.

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