Audio By Carbonatix
We’ve known all along that the city’s upping myriad fees to cover some of the $190-million budget shortfall in the budget that’ll get passed today by the city council and take effect October 1. But the best look yet at what’s to come is spelled out in Addendum Item No. 15, as it promises an additional $11.3 million in revenue at the expense of the following:
The changes, which are incorporated into the proposed ordinance, relate to storm water
drainage utility rates; transportation regulation fees; juvenile case management fee;
certification fees for food handlers; various fees for fixed, mobile and temporary food
establishments; solid waste collection and disposal charges; registration and inspection
of multi-tenant properties; flood plain fill permits and municipal setting designation fees.
And by “transportation regulation fees,” they mean everything from shuttle buses to, yes, horse-drawn carriages. You want to drive anything in this city to make a sawbuck, and your the cost of a permit likely goes up next year — from $16 to $40 in nonrefundable application fees. I now fear the fate of the stagecoach business.
