BREMERTON — Septic, well, restaurant and other environmental health fees in Kitsap County would rise in 2027 under a proposal the Kitsap Public Health Board will discuss Tuesday. Public and private schools would also start paying for health and safety inspections that the district is required to do.
The proposal would raise the district’s base hourly rate, which most environmental health fees are built on, from $150 to $175. That rate has not been reviewed since 2017. Health district staff said $175 reflects what fee-based services now cost to deliver. That would still be below rates in Thurston ($275), Tacoma-Pierce ($240), Snohomish ($235), Clark ($189) and Spokane ($180) counties, according to the district.
Under the draft fee schedule:
- A building site application, the septic design review, for a single-family home with a private well would rise from $1,085 to $1,300. On public water, it would go from $820 to $1,000.
- A new, replacement or repair septic installation permit would rise from $600 to $700.
- Annual permits for high-risk food establishments would go from $800 to $840, and low-risk permits from $340 to $370.
- Temporary food permits would rise, and events serving only permit-exempt food, now free, would pay $50 for review.
- Group B water system operating permits would rise from $75 to $90, and private well water status reports from $315 to $350.
- New school health and safety inspection fees would be $525 for schools with grade 8 and below and $875 for schools with grade 9 or above.
District staff said the increases are needed because fees no longer cover costs. With the changes, the projected 2027 deficit in the food and pools program would shrink from $464,000 to $156,000. The deficit in drinking water and onsite sewage would shrink from $539,000 to $196,000, and in solid and hazardous waste from $562,000 to $524,000.
Without the increases, Environmental Health Director John Kiess wrote, the district would have to shift other money to those programs or cut staff. Cuts to the food program would likely leave the district unable to inspect restaurants as often as required. Cuts in the septic and well program would likely slow application approvals, he wrote.
The district plans to send the draft schedule, in English and Spanish, to permit holders, the septic and drinking water industries and the public. A public hearing and a vote are set for the board’s Dec. 1 meeting.
Draft 2027 budget
The board will also get its first look at the district’s draft 2027 budget, which totals $17.6 million. It is balanced with $1 million from unrestricted reserves and, if needed, about $1 million more from reserves set aside for specific programs, according to a memo from Accounting and Finance Manager Melissa Laird.
The district’s share of state Foundational Public Health Services money falls to $2.9 million, down $641,000 from the previous year, and staff flagged uncertainty about that funding. Funding requests to the cities and county that make up the health board are unchanged from 2026. Staffing is projected at about 106 full-time positions, and personnel makes up 80% of spending. The district’s total fund balance is about $14.6 million, well above its two-month reserve minimum, the memo said.
The board is scheduled to adopt the budget Dec. 1. Also on that date, it will vote on small changes to administrative fees: a new $1 processing fee on birth and death certificates, whose $25 base price is set by state law, and a notary fee increase from $10 to $15.
On Tuesday’s consent agenda is an amendment that adds $240,000 to the district’s opioid abatement contract with the Salish Behavioral Health Administrative Services Organization, through Kitsap County. That brings the contract to $755,000 and extends it through June 2027.
How to attend
The meeting runs from 8:30 to 10 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3, in the meeting chambers of the Norm Dicks Government Center, 345 Sixth St., Bremerton. Public comment is taken in person. Written comments can be sent to healthboard@kitsappublichealth.org. The meeting will air live on Comcast channel 12, Wave channel 3 and BKAT at bremertonwa.gov/402. The agenda packet is at kitsappublichealth.org/about/boh.
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