How much more will it cost to license your dog, run your restaurant, or pay off a DUI?
That’s the question hanging over next Tuesday’s Sonoma County Board of Supervisors meeting, when Item 40 on the regular calendar comes up for a vote. It’s not a splashy agenda item, but the proposed changes could quietly raise the cost of everyday life for thousands of residents.
The Department of Health Services wants to scrap four existing resolutions and replace them with a new fee schedule covering animal services, environmental health, public health lab testing, and DUI program participation. If passed, the changes would take effect in September and October, and they’re pitched as “cost recovery” — county code for making sure fees fully cover the expense of providing a service, rather than relying on the general fund…