City plans regular fee updates

The city plans to make sure the fees it charges for permits and services are updated regularly.
A new law enacted by the City Council recently requires officials to review each fee charged at least every three years to make sure it’s adequate.
City Councilor Craig Minor, who heads the ordinance committee, said that neglecting to keep fees current sometimes lead to “rather dramatic” hikes that can seem out of touch.
The move will likely lead to slightly higher revenue for the city, but it’s mostly aimed at eliminating the furor that can arise when residents get socked for a massive increase all at once.
City Councilor Mike Rimcoski said that he began pushing for the policy change after hearing from many residents angry at a 55 percent increase in the tab for participation in the yard waste program.
He said many people dropped the voluntary service when they saw their bill rise so sharply last year.
Rimcoski said the city would be far better off by checking on fees “on a year-to-year basis” so they can be increased slowly rather than holding steady for a long time and then suddenly shooting upward.
The city charges a wide range of fees, for everything from building permits to summer recreation charges. Taken together, they amount to millions of dollars in badly needed revenue for city coffers.
Because the city’s structure requires fee hikes to gain at least the support of oversight boards for most departments, it’s not unusual for fees to remain stagnant for long periods of time before they are increased.
Parking fines, for example, were recently doubled after many years without change.
By putting the requirement that fees are reviewed into the law, officials hope the issue won’t linger on the back burner so often. It should spur more frequent but smaller fee increases, they said.

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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

City lawyers to look at yard waste fee hike

City attorneys are looking into the legalities of having the City Council get the last word on fee hikes in the yard waste collection program whose cost is set to rise 70 percent to cover its expenses.
City Councilor Mike Rimcoski said he made “a bad error” in mistakenly backing the increase from $50 to $85 annually during a recent Public Works Board meeting.
“It was my fault for letting it slip through,” Rimcoski said. “I dropped the ball.”
But, he said, the council “should have the final say” rather than letting department jack up fees so sharply without any direct council involvement.
“If we’re going to take the grief for it,” Rimcoski said, then politicians ought to have a role in setting fees that residents have to pay.
Mayor Art Ward said that departments have to take the responsibility of making sure that fees cover the cost of operating programs.
“They should have the jurisdiction over their operation,” the mayor said, adding that he’s ordered them to review their fees in anticipation of the next budget to make sure that fees are keeping up with expenses.
City Councilor Craig Minor said that politicians need to know “when to draw the line” in overseeing charges to residents.
He said that he generally favors letting departments deal with fees themselves or councilors could wind up weighing what library fines should be.
Dale Clift, the city attorney, said his office will take a look at the relevant ordinances and determine the authority for setting fees.
He said that once lawyers figure out which legal provisions apply, they’ll refer the issue to the proper committees, including the council and public works panel.
Public works commissioners hiked the fee for the yard waste collection program this summer after recognizing the $50 annual charge it has had for nearly a decade wasn’t enough to cover rising costs.

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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com