The Kitsap Public Health District Board approved 2026 environmental health division service fees, which will go into effect Jan. 1, 2026, as part of its Nov. 4 meeting.

“Environmental health fees are fees charged by the Kitsap Public Health District to cover the cost of providing licensing and permitting services for food service establishments, public pools, drinking water wells, onsite septic systems, solid and hazardous waste facilities, and other activities regulated by the district,” per a KPHD news release.

KPHD is consolidating the fee structure into two tiers for permanent food establishments: low risk and high risk. Eric Evans, assistant director of the environmental health division, said the health district wants to make changes to the fee structure in an effort to provide predictability for businesses, adding, “We want to consolidate…And when we start looking at menus and all that, it’s very complicated,” he said.

An example of a high-risk establishment, such as a restaurant, versus a lower-risk establishment, such as a grocery store, Evans said. Food establishments are inspected one to three times per year based on the permit type, per KPHD.

Previously, KPHD used the consumer price index to set environmental fee structures. The new changes would replace CPI-based fee structures in favor of a tiered structure. KPHD has 1,400 current permitted food establishments fees that will see the following approximate fee changes: 45% will see an annual fee decrease between $10-$140, and 55% will see an annual fee increase between $5 and $20.

KPHD evaluates risk by several metrics, including menu and/or food preparation process, per agency documents.

“It’s been quite a change. We think it’s going to be really helpful for us communicating fee costs and just the public understanding what we’re talking about,” Evans said.

Evans said the updated fee structure maintains revenue goals. Fees will be maintained for two environmental health programs: drinking water and onsite sewage (DWOS), and solid and hazardous waste (SHW).

Also at the meeting, interim KPHD health officer Herbie Duber provided the board with updates about the federal government shutdown and respiratory illnesses.

Regarding the government shutdown, which started Oct. 1, Duber said roughly 20% of Kitsap County residents rely on Medicaid, and due to rising premiums, those who may opt out of healthcare coverage would create increased uncompensated care with sicker individuals, fewer people with healthcare coverage, and put an increased strain on healthcare partners

“The focus really is on the 2021 ACA, or Affordable Care Act. Obamacare enhanced healthcare subsidies. So these were the additional subsidies that were put in play in 2021 in order to increase affordability of health care costs. Because they have been skyrocketing at such a high rate, it’s estimated that if they rescinded these enhanced health care subsidies, the premiums would rise substantially for more than 20 million Americans who currently receive health care through the exchange,” he said.

Several boardmembers asked about the health district’s response and role in SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits amid federal uncertainty and changes regarding the program.

Yolanda Fong, KPHD health administrator, said the agency doesn’t have a standalone nutrition program, adding, “We do touch on nutrition in multiple of our community health division programs. We used to do what was called SNAP education, but that funding has been eliminated, so we no longer have that program anymore, but that was where we would do some work around healthy eating and active living,” she said, “Our parent child health program does a lot of work around mothers, babies and nutrition, and so those are kind of our two primary areas. We also do some food support for our HIV case management program. So we have pockets, but we don’t have, like, a comprehensive food program.”

Regarding respiratory illnesses, Duber said the district has reported lower levels of COVID-19 and flu in recent weeks.

“Fortunately, we’ve seen a decline in COVID-19 activity. We had talked at our past board meeting about the increase that we were seeing, and so we’re slowly starting to see that decline, which is good. We have not really seen substantial flu and RSV activity yet,” he said. “As I mentioned previously, RSV in particular has really increased in some places, particularly in the southeast. We expect that that will increase here. It’s just a matter of time, similar to the flu, but there are lots of viruses that are circulating.”