San Diego County began notifying restaurants Thursday of $4.5 million in permit fee refunds for the period of March 16, 2020, through June 15 of this year -- the result of a recent settlement in a lawsuit brought by a local restaurant group.
The class action settlement was for all restaurants and limited food preparation facilities that paid or were required to pay annual permit fees to the County of San Diego Department of Environmental Health and Quality.
The settlement provides a 50% refund of annual permit fees to restaurants that paid, and 50% credit to those that owe annual permit fees. It also waives late fees for untimely payment of permit fees that were due through that time period, as long as the fees are paid within 12 months of the original due date or by Dec. 31, 2021, whichever is sooner.
The amount is in addition to $118.9 million already provided to restaurants by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors to help offset the impact of California's stay-at-home and local public health orders amid the coronavirus pandemic.
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"Restaurant owners and their employees suffered significant losses because of COVID-19," said Nathan Fletcher, chair of the board of supervisors. "As the industry rebuilds, this refund will aid restaurants in their economic recovery and is in addition to the tens of millions of dollars provided to them during the height of the pandemic."
"The restaurant industry is a valued and important part of our local economy, and it has been seriously impacted by the pandemic closures," said Sarah Aghassi of the county's land use & environment group. "We look forward to maintaining our partnership as we move forward with our economic recovery."
To date, the county has provided $123.4 million to specifically help restaurants, including:
- $12 million from county fee-related actions supporting restaurants, including deferring health permit fees, stablilized DEHQ fees and waiving some restaurant fees
- $90.2 million to fund the Great Plates program that partnered with restaurants during the pandemic to deliver meals to participating seniors from May 2020 through July 30, 2021
- $16.72 million in support to restaurants and limited food preparation facilities through Small Business Stimulus Grant program
