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City council committee discusses fee increases By Jayne Gest Dover City Council members were updated on the proposed fee increases and new fees relevant to the fiscal year 2009 budget at Monday’s special Legislative, Financial and Administrative committee meeting. Committee members voted to move the proposal on to regular council without any recommendation. City Manager Tony DePrima reported the proposed budget, which goes in effect July 1, is the tightest he’s ever prepared. He said he feels the increased fees are warranted because fiscal 2009 will not be a year the city can make up higher costs out of extra revenue. “I’ve got a budget where there’s not a lot of new revenue sources, but we got a number of new expenses,” he said, referring to items such as several new job positions that were added partway through last year, but must be fully funded for the first time in the coming year. “I wish I could paint a rosier picture,” DePrima said. DePrima last spoke to the committee in March about the proposed new and updated permit and license fees, which go up by 10%, although some are more and others less. They mostly deal with the Department of Planning and Inspections, and include development plan fees and permit fees, which are meant to help cover the costs of the city inspectors. Since March, after hearing input from the public and developers and builders, the only change the city made was to drop the new fire final inspection fee. Despite concerns from council whether departments like Planning and Inspections need to try to cover costs or if the extra $300,000 the fees would generate couldn’t be found by cutting the budget elsewhere, DePrima said he’s just following past city precedent. The fiscal 2009 revenue is projected to cover only 60% of the planning costs, which is the lowest in five years, DePrima reported. Historically the city has tried to cover 80 to 90% of costs with fees that directly impact those who benefit from planning and inspection services. “All I’m trying to do is preserve the city’s position,” he said. Many of the fees have not been increased in three to 14 years, DePrima noted. Committee members also discussed the possibility of reviewing fees on a set frequency so they are not all raised in one year. Currently the fees are reviewed every three years. It was suggested that construction and planning fees could be reviewed every three years, rental licenses every four and business licenses every five. In other news: City Council members will vote for a city council president at their annual meeting. Current president Beverly Williams and councilman Kenneth Hogan have expressed interest in the role. They answered questions from council members Monday at a special workshop following the committee meeting. Nominations and a ballot vote will be taken at the Monday, May 12, meeting.
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