Host of higher city fees coming to Menlo Park Host of higher city fees coming to Menlo Park (May 05, 2004)

By Rebecca Wallace
Almanac Staff Writer

A sweeping package of fee hikes for city services won the support of the Menlo Park City Council on April 27, with a few exceptions.

As proposed by staff, a host of fees will go up in the police department and the library, along with the community services, public works, planning and administrative divisions. People will pay more for city-run child care, parking violations, overdue library books, drunken-driving arrests, and various planning department permits.

But they won't have to buy a $25 garage-sale permit.

"We could get run out of town on a rail," said Councilman Chuck Kinney, asking his colleagues to reject the permit, which would have covered city costs for cleaning up leftover garage sale signs. (A permit requirement did exist but had not been enforced.) The rest of the council concurred.

The council also balked at a staff proposal to hike the fee for appealing a planning decision from a flat $110 to a $500 deposit. An appellant would have had to pay more than the deposit if costs for staff time spent on the appeal exceeded $500.

Councilman Nicholas Jellins said he feared the increase could have "a chilling effect" on "the public's right to bring an appeal." The rest of the council agreed with Mr. Jellins, also unanimously agreeing not to increase the annual fee for a tennis court key, which is $25 for residents and $88 for others.

In addition, the council agreed on a new $15 fee for appealing a decision on a heritage tree removal permit, instead of the proposed $50. This pleased Kevin McCarthy, vice chair of the city's Environmental Quality Commission, who had told the council the new fee could be a "significant burden."

With new fees being instituted, Councilwoman Mickie Winkler voiced concern about the city cost for processing checks. She asked the staff to look into ways to reduce it, such as having fees paid with property tax bills.

Finance Director Uma Chokkalingam estimated that processing one check in her department can cost $10 to $15 in staff time and bank costs.

The council also asked staff to look into creating a half-day parking permit downtown, which could be used on one day and would perhaps cost $5. Full-day permits cost $8.

Last year, residents of the lower-income Belle Haven area spoke against proposed higher fees for children's programs. This year, no one addressed the council on the new increases, which will include raising the subsidized price for an eight-week summer program from $165 to $182.

The fee increases are part of an effort to bridge a $2.24 million anticipated deficit in the city's $27 million general fund budget.

Some of the increases took effect at the end of April, while others will become effective July 1. Initially, the proposed increases were expected to bring in about $400,000 annually. With the council's changes, city staff members are still working out how much revenue the fee hikes could yield.

INFORMATION

For a report listing the fee increases, go to www.menlopark.org., click on "City Council," and go to the agenda for April 27.

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