The June 15th re-opening, of course, also means that businesses are no longer being fined, for the most part, for not complying with pandemic mandates. But only around three-percent of fines have been paid in California. Meanwhile, Nevada County Environmental Health Director Amy Irani says the initial total for all restaurants here was around eight-thousand dollars, with only a minute number cited at all. But then, she says that total was reduced to below three-thousand dollars, since there had already been a lot of economic suffering, with many owners struggling to stay open…

click to listen to Amy Irani

Irani says only around 900 dollars has been collected and no operating permits were ever revoked…

click to listen to Amy Irani

Irani says to continue to tack on daily fines for non-compliance was not the path the county wished to pursue, as the entire community was in crisis and suffering. Statewide, 83-percent of employers with COVID-related fines of more than 10-thousand dollars were appealed them, compared to only eight-percent for other workplace violations. Legal experts say COVID penalties are higher, which is why businesses were willing to pay lawyers to appeal on their behalf.