By Associated Press - Friday, May 23, 2014

PITTSBURGH (AP) - The Allegheny County Health Department wants restaurants in and around Pittsburgh to pay if repeat inspections are required to bring those eateries up to department standards.

Jim Thompson, the department’s deputy director of environmental health, tells the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (https://bit.ly/1vRERIn ) the policy targets restaurants with repeat food-safety violations.

The state Department of Agriculture inspects restaurants in counties that don’t have their own health departments. That agency doesn’t charge restaurants for the initial inspection, or a re-inspection, but charges $150 for a second re-inspection and $300 for each thereafter.

The county plans to adopt the same fee structure.

Sean Casey is president of the Pittsburgh-area chapter of the Pennsylvania Restaurant Association. He worries county officials will use the re-inspections to raise revenue, like some police departments, which write tickets to raise money.

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Information from: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, https://www.post-gazette.com

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