{"id":73567,"date":"2025-06-17T10:48:37","date_gmt":"2025-06-17T17:48:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=73567"},"modified":"2025-06-18T09:49:20","modified_gmt":"2025-06-18T16:49:20","slug":"barger-secures-board-support-to-defer-refund-county-permit-fees-for-la-wildfire-survivors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=73567","title":{"rendered":"Barger Secures Board Support to Defer, Refund County Permit Fees for LA Wildfire Survivors"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jun. 17, 2025, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a motion<\/a>\u00a0authored by Supervisor Kathryn Barger to defer and refund County permitting and inspection fees for survivors of the catastrophic Eaton and Palisades Fires that struck in January 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cFamilies who lost everything in these devastating wildfires deserve every opportunity to rebuild without being burdened by County fees,\u201d said\u00a0Supervisor Kathryn Barger<\/strong>. \u201cToday\u2019s unanimous vote is a clear statement that our Board stands with these residents. This action gives them the relief they urgently need while we identify the sources of funding that will permanently eliminate these costs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under the approved motion, the County will immediately defer permitting and inspection fees for eligible homeowners rebuilding single-family homes in unincorporated communities impacted by the fires. Refunds will also be issued to those who have already paid these fees for qualifying rebuild projects. To qualify for deferral or refund, homeowners must have owned and resided in the property prior to the fires.<\/p>\n

With more than 7,400 residential and commercial structures destroyed, the Eaton and Palisades Fires displaced thousands of County residents. Many now face daunting challenges navigating insurance claims and securing sufficient financial assistance. County permit fees\u2014often exceeding $20,000\u2014represent a significant obstacle for these wildfire survivors as they work to rebuild their lives and homes.<\/p>\n

The motion stems from a\u00a0report<\/a>\u00a0prepared by Los Angeles County\u2019s Chief Executive Officer at Supervisor Barger\u2019s direction that evaluated options to reduce or waive rebuilding fees. The report estimated the cost of waiving all rebuilding and inspection fees in unincorporated areas affected by the Eaton Fire alone could reach $120 million.<\/p>\n

Supervisor Barger\u2019s motion also directs several County departments to complete an updated fee study within 60 days, taking into account potential cost savings from new technologies and systems now being deployed\u2014such as the Archistar permitting software, the County\u2019s One Stop Centers, and a Unified Permitting Authority.<\/p>\n

In addition to immediate relief, the motion instructs County departments to explore long-term funding strategies, including potential budget reallocations, federal disaster assistance, and philanthropic partnerships, to make permanent fee waivers financially sustainable.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs you drive through Altadena, you still see the signs that read \u2018Altadena Not For Sale,\u2019\u201d\u00a0Supervisor Barger\u00a0<\/strong>said. \u201cToday, this Board backed up that message with real action. By removing these fees, we\u2019re giving wildfire survivors a better chance to stay in their communities, rebuild their homes, and hold on to hope for the future. I\u2019m confident that we\u2019ll identify long-term funding solutions to permanently waive these costs\u2013but finding that funding is the County\u2019s responsibility. It shouldn\u2019t be an added burden for families who are already working so hard to rebuild their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jun. 17, 2025, the Los Angeles...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ca-local"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=73567"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73567\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":73568,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73567\/revisions\/73568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=73567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=73567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=73567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}