Coversheet

ITEM 4.
PUBLIC HEARING - 9:30 AM


AGENDA ITEM REPORT

DATE:	December 7, 2021
DEPARTMENT:	County Attorney
REQUESTER:	Andrea Fraser
TITLE:	Public Hearing: Amend Medical Examiner Cremation Fee Ordinance

I.	MOTION REQUESTED
	Conduct Public Hearing amending Lee County Cremation Fee Ordinance No. 15-07, increasing the fee from $50 to $60; and adopt a Resolution amending Lee County Administrative Code AC-3-10, the External Fees and Charges Manual, in order to update Section EX 17-0 Medical Examiner.

II.

ITEM SUMMARY

This item increases the cremation fee imposed on all funeral homes from $50 to $60 per Medical Examiner authorization for the cremation. The last time the fee was increased was April 2015. The Medical Examiner is requesting the increase to help defray costs of providing the cremation authorizations, including staff time of physicians and forensic investigators, and storage of records in accordance with state regulations. This increase will reduce the general subsidy for the authorizations as a cremation authorization, on average, is estimated to cost between $163 and $175.

III.

BACKGROUND AND IMPLICATIONS OF ACTION

	A)	Board Action and Other History
		The Board of County Commissioners adopted Lee County Ordinance No. 04-19, the “Lee County Cremation Fee Ordinance”, on October 24, 2004 and subsequently amended the ordinance by adopting Lee County Ordinance No. 10-44 on November 23, 2010, Lee County Ordinance No. 12-22 on September 25, 2012, and Lee County Ordinance 15-07 on April 21, 2017. Section One, “Setting of Fees” of Lee County Ordinance No. 15-07, as amended, set the District 21 Medical Examiner’s Fee for cremation authorizations at Fifty Dollars ($50.00); and, establishes collection fees for late payments. The Medical Examiner has contacted Lee County to request it update Section One, “Setting the Fees”, to increase the fee to help defray the rising costs involved with cremation approvals.

	B)	Policy Issues

	C)	BoCC Goals

	D)	Analysis

	E)	Options

IV.

FINANCIAL INFORMATION

A)	Current year dollar amount of item:	No funding required.
B)	Is this item approved in the current budget?	No
C)	Is this a revenue or expense item?	Revenue
D)	Is this Discretionary or Mandatory?	Discretionary
E)	Will this item impact future budgets? If yes, please include reasons in III(D) above.	Yes
F)	Fund: General Fund Program: Project: Account Strings:
G)	Fund Type?	General Fund
H)	Comments:

V.	RECOMMENDATION
	Approve

VI.	TIMING/IMPLEMENTATION

VII.	FOLLOW UP

ATTACHMENTS:
Description	Upload Date	Type
Memo Increase Cremation Fees	11/9/2021	Cover Memo
Draft Ordinance - Cremation Fee Update	11/9/2021	Ordinance
Draft Resolution - Cremation Fee Update	11/9/2021	Resolution
External Fee EX17-2 Exhibit A Strikethrough	11/10/2021	Exhibit
FAIS Form Medical Examiner Fees	11/15/2021	Backup Material
120721R-930PH-4-RESO 21-12-09	12/9/2021	Resolution
120721R-930PH-4-ORD 21-16	12/10/2021	Ordinance

REVIEWERS:
Department	Reviewer	Action	Date
County Attorney	Wesch, Richard Wm.	Approved	11/9/2021 - 4:26 PM
Budget Services	Guttery, Angela	Approved	11/18/2021 - 2:25 PM
Budget Services	Winton, Peter	Approved	11/18/2021 - 3:51 PM
County Attorney	Fraser, Andrea	Approved	11/18/2021 - 4:14 PM
County Manager	Winton, Peter	Approved	11/19/2021 - 8:32 AM