The Hollister City Council at a special meeting this week
discussed fee increases that range from a new $3 charge to register
a bicycle to hundreds of dollars it may cost an arsonist for
starting a fire.
The Hollister City Council at a special meeting this week discussed fee increases that range from a new $3 charge to register a bicycle to hundreds of dollars it may cost an arsonist for starting a fire.
Those charges and many others were part of a study, done by a private firm, which will be the basis for widespread fee hikes in Hollister. The city expects to release the second half of the study soon, which will include water and sewer fee increases.
On Monday, the council will consider an approval of the recommendations from Munifinancial, which charged the city $130,000 for the study.
Other topics at the meeting Monday included a new Police Department charge for repeated false alarms and the rising costs for residents to appeal decisions of the council or planning commission.
Council members agreed with a recommendation for escalating fines when police respond to a false alarm four or more times in a year. And officials agreed that residents who appeal government decisions should foot the bill.
As council members debated over fees, Mayor Tony Bruscia emphasized the city should try to recover 100 percent of its costs – including staff time – for many services.
He’d rather raise such fees than ask the general public to consider sales tax increases to fix budget woes, he said. Otherwise taxpayers end up subsidizing, for instance, the city’s costs for developers who appeal planning decisions, he said.
Officials have acknowledged most fees are outdated, as Hollister hasn’t updated many of them since the early 1980s
“I’d much rather we make sure people who are using government services are paying the appropriate cost for that,” Bruscia said.
Copy of the fee study are available at Hollister City Hall, 375 Fifth Street
freelancenews.com.
