- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
Lakeport City Council votes to apply new fireworks permit fee
The city of Lakeport is the only place in Lake County where safe and sane fireworks can be bought, sold and used for a four-day period each July.
The city previously had attempted to stop the sales of safe and sane fireworks. However, in November 2009, city voters approved Measure C, which requires the city to allow the sales by a group of designated nonprofits.
At the council’s March 19 meeting, Police Chief Brad Rasmussen said a new Assembly bill, AB 1403, which went into effect on Jan. 1, allows cities to implement a 2% surcharge, or permit fee, on gross sales in order to recover more of the actual costs to respond to and deal with fireworks impacts.
“There’s a lot of different work that goes into dealing with that,” Rasmussen said of the fireworks sales and use.
Rasmussen explained that the city’s handling of fireworks begins with the city clerk processing the permits by the nonprofits to sell them, then work in the field to enforce rules, setting up a special discharge area on Fourth Street during the Independence Day festivities and, finally, cleanup of the debris left behind by the fireworks.
“Annually the costs just for police and public works — not counting any other department — is between $25,000 and $30,000 a year for us to deal with and respond to fireworks issues,” Rasmussen told the council.
Measure C allowed for a 5% surcharge. However, Rasmussen said that doesn’t come close to covering the city’s costs to deal with fireworks.
Over the past six years, Rasmussen said the 5% surcharge averaged $4,000 to $6,000 annually. Then, in 2023, that amount went up to $11,200 because one nonprofit vendor did very well and sold more than previous years. Also, the Lakeport Police Department worked with TNT Fireworks and Revell Communications, who voluntarily gave another 2% over that 5% surcharge.
Rasmussen said last year the city had planned to hire a private company to do fireworks enforcement due to not having capacity. However, that contractor couldn’t provide the necessary insurance documents.
The city has put that additional 2% from last year aside to use this year, Rasmussen said.
“We only recover a very small percentage of our costs to deal with the impacts,” he said.
Rasmussen reported that all current fireworks permit holders — Clear Lake High School Boosters, Lake County Channel Cats, Lake County Realtors Scholarship & Community Fund and Terrace School Parent Teacher Organization — were notified of the proposed fireworks sales permit fee for sales within the city and were invited to give public input.
Dennis Revell of Revell Communications, who represents TNT Fireworks, said the fireworks company and the nonprofits who sell the fireworks in the city support the new surcharge.
Jen Richardson, representing the Clear Lake High Boosters and Terrace Middle School Parent Teacher Organization, confirmed those groups also are on board.
The only person speaking against the surcharge was business owner Nancy Ruzicka, who had been a proponent of the ballot measure to allow fireworks sales in the city. She said it would dip into the nonprofits’ profits.
District 4 Supervisor Michael Green — also a former Lakeport City Council member — said he respectfully disagreed with Ruzicka, that the city needed to be able to cover the impacts. He called fireworks sales in the city “an attractive nuisance.”
Green — referencing the city’s new Xabatin Park — said there is now twice as much park area to patrol as before. He said he wasn’t swayed by Ruzicka’s claims, although he understands the difficulties of fundraising.
The surcharge, he added, “in no way is a responsive to the larger issue of the disconnect between the city's policy and the county's policy on fireworks, and I know we're not here to talk about a ballot measure that would be needed to change that but that's front and center on my mind, and has been for several years.”
Lakeport Fire Chief Patrick Reitz said the surcharge is needed to help the city. He recounted how last year outside and partner agencies came in to help assist the city with enforcement, which he called “a tremendous effort.”
Reitz said they did a lot of confiscations, with a number of citations and a handful of arrests resulting. He said it takes a very big team to make that happen.
He also clarified that the fire district does not receive any of the mitigation funds. “An event like this is an out of pocket expense for the district.”
Reitz said they tried to trace the illegal fireworks confiscated in the city to find out where they were purchased. He said they found that quite a few of them had been purchased in Colusa County on “sovereign nation property,” referencing tribal lands. Some also came from outside of the state.
He encouraged the council to accept the surcharge, adding, “I don't see a significant impact to the nonprofits.”
Mayor Michael Froio said the surcharge would help the city offset the costs, and Councilwoman Stacey Mattina agreed that it would help.
Councilman Brandon Disney moved to adopt the resolution establishing a 2% permit fee for permit processing inspections, public awareness and education, campaigns and fire operations and suppression efforts related to the sale of safe insane fireworks, with councilman Kenny Parlet seconding and the council voting 5-0.
Also at the March 19 meeting, the council met new city employees Bryan Carlson, Mel Olea, Jen Baker and Michelle Brown, adopted a resolution to submit an application to the California State Department of Housing and Community Development for funding under the HOME Investment Partnership Program and got a progress update from staff on accomplishments and progress toward the fulfillment of the city’s 2023-24 departmental goals.
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