Mill Creek staff outline broad fee schedule revisions, propose pilot for reservable park shelters and higher public-records fees

City staff presented Part 2 of a comprehensive update to Mill Creek's master fee schedule at the Oct. 21 special meeting, outlining proposed changes to parks and recreation fees, police and animal licensing fees, and public-records request charges. Council members discussed a pilot program to allow reservations for park shelters, possible refunds tied to cleanup, and a shift in how the city charges for voluminous public-records requests.

Adrian (staff presenter) said staff reviewed comparable jurisdictions and sought to consolidate scattered fees into a single, user-friendly document tied to the city's upcoming permitting software launch. The packet covers field rentals, community-room rentals, special-event permits, commercial use of parks, shelter reservations, recreation program fees and miscellaneous charges such as passport photos and technology fees.

Parks and recreation proposals

Staff proposed removing the "third priority" field rental category and setting clearer resident/nonresident rates; county and other peer jurisdictions informed the proposed numbers. Staff reported the city collected about $40,000 in field-rental revenue in 2024 and said the proposed schedule would raise rates for some categories while also recommending continued efforts to keep recreation affordable for youth. For community rooms, staff suggested modest CPI-based adjustments.

On reserving park shelters, staff proposed a pilot program during peak season (May—September) allowing online reservations with a resident discount. Council members raised enforcement and equity concerns: some members argued shelters are paid for by local taxpayers and should remain open and free on a first-come, first-served basis, while others supported a pilot to give residents reservation priority and reduce uncertainty for families hosting events.

Council members suggested several guardrails for any reservation program: limit reservation durations (several council members recommended short windows rather than all-day blocks), require a refundable deposit tied to site cleanup, and consider restricting reservations to residents or giving residents priority. Staff recommended a pilot and said the city's ActiveNet system could support reservations and public calendars to show availability.

Animal licensing and police fees

Staff proposed changing the animal-license structure from Mill Creek's current lifetime fee of $5 to an annual licensing model with tiered fees (lower for altered pets) consistent with peer cities; a proposed tag-replacement fee and a dead-animal pickup charge ($80) were also discussed. Chief White (police) and other staff noted police-specific fees would remain constrained by state law (for example, concealed-pistol-license fees set under RCW) but the department proposed adding fingerprinting services locally for a fee.

Public-records requests

Adrian presented a time-based methodology used by other jurisdictions to set per-record fees for large electronic public-records requests. Staff performed a time study and, applying local staff wage and benefits, calculated an internal cost equivalent to about 28 cents per responsive electronic record; staff recommended a practical, rounded fee of 25 cents per responsive electronic record beyond a small initial threshold so routine small requests remain inexpensive.

The shift responds to increasing volumes and complexity of requests, staff said. The police department also reported high request volumes for collision reports and noted other states and agencies (including the Washington State Patrol) use small per-report fees for non-party requesters.

Other items

Staff also proposed a modest charge for passport photos to support a one-stop service at City Hall, a technology fee (currently 3%) tied to permitting software costs, and flagged impact fees and fire-fee updates as items that require separate, more technical studies.

Next steps and council direction: staff asked for council guidance on whether to pilot shelter reservations, retain reduced fees for nonprofit or government events, proceed with the public-records fee methodology and continue work toward a consolidated fee schedule for adoption later. Several council members asked staff to return with more detail on usage data (who uses fields and rooms and how often) before finalizing some rates. Staff said they will incorporate council feedback and return with a revised fee schedule for formal adoption later this year.