EDITORIAL: City fees hikes are reasonable, necessary

Government's always looking for more money, right? 

A bloated bureaucracy trying to squeeze more money out of taxpayers? 

Creating more red tape that does nothing but cause headaches for citizens but pads pocketbooks of folks at City Hall? 

All too often pitching new fees? 

Coeur d'Alene is about to do just that. Yes, raise fees. The request will be considered by the City Council on Tuesday. In this case, we don't believe it's about looking for more money or being a bloated bureaucracy or padding pocketbooks. This request for increasing certain fees in the building, finance, fire, library, municipal services, parks and recreation, police and water departments is for good reason and is justified.

First, a little background.

The city is required to hold a public hearing for any proposed fee increase in excess of 5%. State law also says that fees for service shall be reasonably related to, but shall not exceed, the actual cost of the service being rendered.

So, while some of the proposed fees are increasing less than 5%, are being clarified, and/or are being removed and not required to be included in the public hearing, they're still in there for ease of tracking.

Now, what are these fees? We can't cover them all, but some proposed by municipal services are: Mobile vendor permit to $165.38 from $157.50; door-to-door solicitation business license, $84 from $62.50; and special events with more than 500 people for six hours, 21-plus blocks, $866.25 from $825.

Recreation is eyeing higher youth activity fees for city residents, such as for $40 from $25 for baseball; softball teams for men, women and co-ed, to $825 from $760; and Jewett house wedding fees to $1,200 from $1,000.

Finance is seeking an annual 5% increase in street lighting and slight increases to garbage/solid waste collection rates. 

Under the building department, a moving permit fee would increase to $150 from $60 to cover the cost for processing, inspections and coordination with fire, police and street departments. This fee has not been adjusted in over 20 years. 

These are just examples of some of the fees the city is proposing. For the most part, they are small amounts that will not have a significant impact on those paying them. Such fee hikes are necessary to help the city keep up with rising expenses and the cost of doing business. 

And, as we have said before, the city is frugal. It doesn't waste money. It does not seek property tax hikes unless absolutely necessary. It runs a tight ship. The Coeur d'Alene City Council has experience and understanding of budgets and what it costs to operate government effectively. If they see what they think is questionable spending, they'll point it out. Department heads are equally experienced with budgets and understand how to operate efficiently.

A public hearing on the proposed fee increases is scheduled during the City Council meeting scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday in the Coeur d'Alene Public Library Community Room. We recommend citizens attend and if you have questions, sign up to offer comments.