Gary committee reviews broad city fee-schedule changes; ordinance set for April 1

City of Gary Ways and Means Committee members on March 20 reviewed CPO 2025-13, an ordinance to amend the city’s fee-schedule ordinance (No. 9377) and proposed fee changes across multiple departments, and were told the measure will be placed on the City Council agenda for April 1.

The proposal would raise or establish a range of fees — from contractor licensing and seasonal food permits to police recordings and towing releases — and add administrative charges in the health and parks programs. Committee members pressed staff for clarifications on several items, most notably parking rates tied to a planned ParkMobile payment system, and asked staff to return with corrected language and supporting ordinance changes before final council consideration.

The most prominent finance proposals include increases to contractor licensing and renewal fees and higher late fees. Finance staff told the committee the contractor initial license fee would increase from $120 to $150 and renewals from $70 to $100; late fees for contractor and general business licenses would move to a flat $50 (regardless of how long after the deadline), and certain inspection fees would rise (for example, an inspection fee listed as increasing from $50 to $75). Seasonal food-permit fees are proposed to increase from $150 to $250, with temporary food permits rising from $50 to $100. The city would begin charging $5 to reprint W-2s where none was charged previously.

Health department changes proposed by Veronica Collins, Executive Director of the Gary Health Department, would add modest fees for nonresident testing and other services and raise some inspection and administrative charges. Collins said the department added $10 fees for STD/HIV tests for residents and $25 for nonresidents, a $15 fee for TB tests for nonresidents, and $15 for duplicate health cards. Temporary food-business inspections that previously cost $30 would rise to $50; charter-school food inspections were listed at $55 per inspection or $110 annually. Collins also confirmed that routine immunizations remain free but said the department “bill[s] the administrative fee if they have Medicaid, $20.”

Police department proposals drew detailed questions. Chief Evans described two new or increased fees the department is seeking: a $50 false-alarm citation after three dispatched responses in a month, and a $150 fee per recording for requests for body-worn camera, in-car video or jail/building video footage. Chief Evans explained the workload behind a release request, saying, “a simple 15 minute video with 2 officers and 2 cars will require 3 hours worth of work,” and that the $150 fee per camera reflects staff time to review and redact video for public-records requests. The committee was told proceeds would be recorded and that the department intends to allocate the revenue to its training budget. Other police fees listed include accident and incident report copies ($15), background checks ($15), fingerprinting ($15), VIN checks ($5), a $50 vehicle tow release fee and a $40 tow-company franchise fee; semi-tractor trailer tow releases and franchise fees are listed at higher amounts reflecting larger tow costs.

Parks and parking items prompted the most back-and-forth. Dorathula “Dolly” Harris, representing the parks department, described multiple pavilion and shelter fees and a staff proposal to deploy ParkMobile to accept mobile payments for Marquette Park and other high-traffic lots. Staff described an app-based approach with a $1 convenience fee per transaction; one staff version presented to the committee listed $3 per hour parking while another showed $1.50 per hour and an annual resident pass of $75 (versus an earlier $100 figure). Committee members repeatedly asked for a corrected, single set of figures and for the parks director to return with final text and an updated parking-meter ordinance; the city attorney said an updated parking-meter ordinance would be required to implement the app. Parks staff also confirmed pavilion and shelter fees (Marquette’s largest shelter listed at $100; smaller shelters at $80) and quoted RV and commercial-bus rates subject to final review.

Environmental Affairs director Brenda Scott Henry said the department is increasing certain vegetation-management permit fees to cover the cost of an on-call certified arborist who reviews vegetation plans and air-quality submissions. “The purpose of the increase is because we hired a certified arborist to help us with the review of each of these services,” Henry told the committee. Henry and staff indicated some line-item edits and typographical corrections to the ordinance text will be made before final presentation.

Fire department Chief James Morris summarized modest increases for investigation reports and related items, listed on the fee schedule as increases such as a fire-investigation report fee rising from $50 to $75 and photo-inclusive investigation fees moving to a higher bracket consistent with prior year adjustments.

Committee members asked for clearer documentation and for departmental directors to return with corrected pages, consistent fee tables and clarifying language. Councilwoman Linda Barnes Cardwell and Councilman Williams both asked for specifics about parking, pavilion availability and enforcement. Staff said the parks director and legal counsel will return with clarified language, and the controller’s office has been working with staff on ParkMobile implementation; Michael Sokes was identified as the staff member coordinating work with the ParkMobile vendor.

No formal vote on CPO 2025-13 was taken at the Ways and Means meeting. Committee Chair Councilwoman Ivy said the ordinance will be posted on the City Council agenda for April 1 for further consideration.

What’s next: Department directors will return to the committee with corrected fee pages and any required ordinance language (including a parking-meter ordinance and a graffiti enforcement ordinance staff said it plans to present before the next meeting). The committee scheduled further review at the April 1 council meeting where members will consider final adoption or amendment of CPO 2025-13.