Sacramento may consider banning all fireworks after complaints soared this summer
The Sacramento City Council could take a step Tuesday toward banning all fireworks - both legal and illegal.
The move comes after fireworks complaints ahead of July 4 soared in Sacramento and in cities across the country. Now, city officials are trying to figure out how best to reduce the issue for next Fourth of July - a challenging task amid the coronavirus pandemic, which caused a big hit to the city’s budget.
On Tuesday, the council’s Law and Legislation will discuss several ways to combat the problem - from restricting the sale and use of legal “Safe and Sane” fireworks to outright banning them.
In 2018, the city’s illegal fireworks task force seized more than 2,300 pounds of illegal fireworks, assessed more than $40,000 in fines, and made three felony arrests and 13 misdemeanor arrests, a city staff report said. In 2019, the task force seized more than 800 pounds of illegal fireworks, and made four felony and nine misdemeanor arrests, the report said.
But this year, the task force’s work was “greatly curtailed” due to the coronavirus pandemic as well as protests going on at the time, the report said.
The Sacramento Police Department received more than six times more fireworks complaints this June compared to June 2019, according to data The Sacramento Bee received from a California Public Records Act request. From June 1 through June 25, 2019, the department received 177 fireworks complaints citywide. For the same time period in June 2020, that number soared to 1,120.
Banning or restricting legal fireworks would cost the city an estimated $563,000, the report said. That money would go toward hiring two new full-time fire inspectors, as well as for overtime, outreach and supplies. Only a portion of that cost would be covered by permit fees and penalties.
The city, which lost more than $90 million in expected revenue when the pandemic hit, is currently under a hiring freeze, but city leaders might make an exception.
Council members had previously floated adding a new surcharge on legal fireworks to help offset the cost of enforcing illegal fireworks, but that would require a ballot measure with two-thirds majority approval from voters, the report said.
Currently, legal fireworks are only allowed to be used between June 28 and July 4 in the city. The council might restrict them to only July 3 and July 4, the report said.
Many legal firework stands are operated by nonprofits, schools and religious groups, which would lose revenue if legal fireworks are banned, a previous staff report pointed out.
The ban or restrictions would require full council approval.
The Law and Legislation Committee meeting will take place at 1 p.m. Tuesday. It will be livestreamed on the city’s website.
This story was originally published November 16, 2020 at 10:52 AM.
