The Fire Prevention Bureau (FPB) Fee Schedule was created in 1999 to cover the cost of services to hire an additional fire inspector.  To this end, the Sparks City Council passed Resolution 2578 on July 8, 1999, and Resolution 2735 on June 25, 2001.  These two resolutions established and amended fees charged by the Sparks Fire Department for certain fire and life safety inspections, re-inspections, fire suppression, and fire prevention services.

In May 2017, the City Council approved the FY18 budget, which included an increase of $60,000 in Fire Department fees for the fiscal year.

From May - June 2017, the Fire Department conducted a state-wide comparison study of inspection fees. The study demonstrated that the fees charged by the Sparks Fire Department for inspections, re-inspections, fire suppression, and fire prevention services were well below the State average.

From June - July 2017, the Fire Department sent proposed fee modification information to Economic Development Authority Western Nevada (EDAWN), Sparks Citzens Advisory Council, and Reno/Sparks Chamber of Commerce to solicit their their input regarding the fee modifications.  On June 29, 2017 a notice was also placed in the Reno Gazette-Journal.

The FPB Fee Schedule has not been updated since 2001.  Since 2002, the Fire Department has averaged $79,000 in inspection fee revenue per year.  This revenue is insufficient to cover the cost of the Fire Inspector II position paid for by this program.

Fees for fire prevention inspection services have not been adjusted in over sixteen years.  A proposed adjustment in inspection fees will generate the additional revenue needed to pay for the Fire Inspector II position. The City Council approved the FY18 budget on May 22, 2017.  The FY18 budget included an increase in Fire Department fees.

The Fire Department Fees proposed for fire inspections, re-inspections, fire suppression, and fire prevention services are a new fee.  Accordingly, NRS 237 is applicable.  It obligates the City to prepare a Business Impact Statement (BIS).  NRS 237.090 requires that the BIS be available and considered by the City Council at its regular meeting next preseding the regular Council meeting at which this proposed Resolution may be adopted.  For this reason, consideration of the BIS is a companion item to the general business agenda item being heard on the City Council meeting of September 11, 2017.

The Fire Department solicited comments from EDAWN, Sparks Citizens Advisory Council, Reno/Sparks Chamber of Commerce, and through a notice in the Reno Gazette-Journal concerning the potential business impacts of the proposed Resolution amendment and compliled the responses into a Business Impact Statement.

The Fire Department recieved four responses from EDAWN.  The responses did not indicate that the proposed amendment would impose a direct and/or significant economic burden upon businesses.

The proposed Resolution reduces the impact on businesses by creating a more accurate and fair hourly inspection fee for businesses, and a lower-cost administrative fee for businesses placed in a Self-Inspection program.  After conducting a state-wide survey of inspection fees, the proposed fees are designed to pay for one Fire Inspector position as previously approved by Resolution's 2578 & 2735.

The Council could choose not to adopt the Business Impact Statement and provide direction to the City Manager.

I move to adopt the Business Impact Statement related to the proposed Resolution No. 3317, amending Resolution Nos. 2578 & 2735 concerning Fire Department fees for fire inspections, re-inspections, fire suppression, and fire prevention services.