Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
East Lansing council debates restructuring business license fees, asks for data on police calls
Summary
City council members discussed proposed changes to fees for entertainment and other business licenses, heard staff estimates of potential revenue and policing costs, and asked for more data on police call patterns before deciding on a new fee structure.
City Manager Ivan Beilman told the City Council of the City of East Lansing on Jan. 14 that staff has proposed changes to five business-license categories and mailed affected businesses a notice on Dec. 19, 2024, to solicit feedback.
Beilman said the recommended fee changes aim to recover city costs tied to public-safety responses and administrative processing. “Proposed fees as presented on the November 19th would generate $91,010 based on the list of businesses in these 5 categories,” Beilman said, and he cited an estimated police overtime cost of about $196,000 as part of the rationale for the review.
Council members focused most of their discussion on the entertainment-license category, which staff proposed moving to a flat $10 per occupant fee. That proposal drew concern from Council Member Altman, who questioned replacing the existing progressive…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
