Select Board begins townwide fee review; departments propose increases for disposal, beaches, water and permits

The Yarmouth Select Board held an extended discussion on a townwide review of fees, with presentations from Public Works, Community Development, Building/Health, Natural Resources, Recreation, Senior Services, Police, and the Town Clerk. The board framed the exercise as a three-step approach: an initial discussion (April 1), a first public hearing (rescheduled to May 6), and a second hearing (May 13) before any final board action.

Public Works (Jeff Colby, Public Works Director; Roby Whitehouse, Assistant DPW Director; Lori Bridal, Water & Wastewater Superintendent) recommended several targeted changes. For the transfer/disposal operation the department proposed raising the nonresident disposal sticker from about $192 to $250 to better align with neighboring communities; Colby said a town comparison showed Barnstable residents pay around $300. Colby said the town sold “just a little over 300 nonresident stickers” last year and estimated the change would generate roughly $20,000 of additional revenue; staff said a more detailed revenue impact analysis would be provided at the public hearing.

Beach parking was another focus. Colby proposed raising the daily visitor beach fee from $20 to $25 and increasing the weekly sticker from $75 to $100; the resident beach sticker would remain $35 for this season but the department recommended considering a $40 rate in a future year. Colby said the increases are intended in part to help cover rising lifeguard pay and other beach-season costs. Board members asked staff to provide documentation tying fee increases to specific costs to meet state law that fees should be related to cost of service.

On water rates, Bridal and Finance Director Jennifer Mullen told the board the water enterprise needs rate adjustments tied to major capital work including PFAS treatment and water-main replacement. The preliminary plan presented calls for an 8% increase in rates in each of the next two years (noted in discussion as 8% per year), driven largely by debt service on recently authorized projects; Mullen said some borrowing will not begin principal payments for two to three years depending on the financing path and the state trust timing. The board asked for detailed debt schedules and the staff committed to supply them at the formal hearings.

Community Development (Aaron/department staff with Britney DiRienzo) said planning, zoning board of appeals and Old Kings Highway committee fees are low compared with nearby towns and do not cover staff time. The department indicated a baseline proposal of at least a 10% increase for many permitting fees and flagged several categories for specific new fees, including design-review and road-naming work that currently consumes substantial staff time but has little or no fee recovery.

Building and Health (Mark Rills, Building Commissioner; Barry Lewis, Assistant Health Director) said their current fee schedule dates largely from 2015 and covers about 70% of combined costs per prior board guidance. Rills proposed simplifying the fee schedule—moving to a value-based rate per $1,000 of estimated construction value—and said comparative work shows Yarmouth fees are low compared with many neighboring towns. He asked the board to confirm a target cost-recovery percentage (the board previously used 70%) so staff can align proposed fee tables to that policy.

Natural Resources (Dave Condon, Acting Director) and Recreation (Steve Rounds, Director) reported no immediate recommended increases; both departments said their current fees are generally in line with neighboring communities. Recreation described field, pavilion and program fees and the board asked staff to consider clearer deposit/damage policies for field rentals and to supply rental contracts for board review. Senior Services (Diane Kane) reported building rental fees remain modest and said Harwich charges as much as $400 for a similar rental; Kane said the senior center enforces an insurance requirement for all rentals and holds security deposits to cover damages.

Public safety and records: Police indicated their relatively small fee schedule (fingerprints, door-to-door solicitor permits, etc.) aligns with area practice; the clerk’s office (Mary, Town Clerk) proposed adding or indexing a small set of currently uncharged items (burial/transportation certificates and amendment fees for vital records) and suggested modest increases for business-certificate and street-listing production charges.

The Select Board set the schedule for two public hearings (May 6 and May 13) for proposed fee changes and asked departments to provide cost-justification spreadsheets, debt schedules (for water), and revenue-impact estimates for each proposed adjustment. Board members repeatedly emphasized a preference for smaller, regular annual adjustments rather than infrequent large increases.

Why it matters: Many town services—beaches, disposal, permitting, water—depend on fee revenue to help cover operating and capital costs. Under Massachusetts practice, fees should be reasonably related to the cost of providing the service; the board pressed departments for supporting documentation at the hearings.

Next steps: Departments will return with detailed financial backup at the public hearings on May 6 and May 13. The Select Board will accept public comment at those hearings before considering final votes.