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Mel Knight, REHS MALEHA 2012

Keys to Sustainable/Non-Tax Funding for EH Programs - "How to Fund Environmental Health Programs When Traditional Revenue Sources Are Disappearing". Mel Knight, REHS MALEHA 2012. Introduction. Beyond horror stories and tales of woe; sharing success stories and ‘best practices’ experiences

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Mel Knight, REHS MALEHA 2012

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  1. Keys to Sustainable/Non-Tax Funding for EH Programs -"Howto Fund Environmental Health Programs When Traditional Revenue Sources Are Disappearing" Mel Knight, REHS MALEHA 2012

  2. Introduction • Beyond horror stories and tales of woe; sharing success stories and ‘best practices’ experiences • Interactive dialogue based on real life examples • No universal solution; many options for multiple issues and programs

  3. Disclosure is your Friend • Public expectation of inspections and enforcement; disclosure of gaps and deficiencies •  Utilizing industry/ratepayers as allies; Level playing field; EH as low cost QA/QC; EH as educator; advisory committee/workgroups • Initiating media coverage and information sharing • Creating political will, and accepting rejection as legitimate decision to reduce/eliminate service

  4. Get Real! • Myth of doing more with less – reality of doing less with less, with full and transparent disclosure • Reality based cost assessment and workload analysis • Correlation of revenue/resources with actual outputs

  5. Examples of Revenue Options - I • Full cost recovery by ‘fees for service’ (e.g. restaurant facility fee) • Risk based rate structure • Charges for re-inspection(s) • Rebates to compliant businesses • Fees collected by volume or activity (e.g. tipping fee for solid waste or hazmat) • Direct billing for hourly rate (e.g. Toxic site cleanup oversight • Special services district (tax) – (e.g. Air pollution, vector control)

  6. Examples of Revenue Options - II • Advance disposal fee (e.g. e-waste, oil, paint, tires, white metals) • Expedited service fee (e.g. rapid records access vs. less timely access; plan review) • Contracts with other agencies or industries (e.g. FOG, storm water, blind vendor) • Charges for classroom education, voluntary or mandatory (e.g. Food School) • Fines and penalties (e.g. UST fines, late payment penalties) • Multi-year fee schedules with built in COLAs

  7. Common Revenue Mistakes • Underestimating actual cost/hourly rate • Intentionally ‘low-balling’ fee to fit expectations • Co-mingling fees from unrelated programs • ‘Free’ services to government or non-profits • Non-collection of fees/accounts receivable (‘pay or close’ as a fix) • Failure to find out what is important/valuable to ratepayer • Taking COLAs for granted with no apparent effort to reduce costs

  8. Effective Cost Reductions • Decreased frequency/service (Use of history of compliance as indicator) • Audit of self-inspections instead of site visits (remote compliance verification) • Overtime as efficient overhead reducer • Consolidation of inspections and programs for economy of scale • Start from home/end in field • Automation/scheduling efficiencies

  9. Interactive Q & A • Dialogue drawn from ‘real life’ program experiences • Focus on solutions and possibilities • Today’s challenges may become tomorrow’s opportunities!

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