Fee Schedule to Raise Cost of City Services

Residents will be paying more for a range of city services under a new fee schedule approved this week.

Faced with deficits in upcoming annual budgets, the City Council agreed that more programs will have to cover their own costs.

“We’re trying to ensure economic stability for this community in the long term,” Mayor Patsy Marshall said after Monday’s council meeting. “We tried to keep the fees as low as possible, and some of them still do not cover the cost of the program.”

Council members and finance officials have been working since July to draft a five-year financial plan. With revenue declining and costs rising, the city is facing a $2-million shortfall in its $38-million annual budget for next year, officials said.

The fee changes will increase annual revenue by about $200,000, Finance Director Greg Beaubien said.

Some charges will be phased in over two years. One of those is the fee for review of new housing tracts, which will more than double from $825 to $1,800.

Others begin immediately, including an increase to $29 an hour in the fee for use of athletic field lights. The charge was previously $20 an hour.

The city has drafted a schedule of fees so that residents can easily see what the changes are, Beaubien said. The booklets will be available through various departments at City Hall.

Marshall said that the city’s fees, which had not been raised for several years, are now in line with those charged by other cities of similar size.