Sunbury council considers doubling fee on skill machines to increase revenue

Councilors at a Sunbury budget work session discussed a proposed change to the city fee applied to skill machines and similar devices. Staff and members said the city currently charges $100 per machine and that doubling the fee to $200 would increase local revenue if the change is approved.

Council members asked staff to clarify which devices fall under the ordinance’s definitions and whether owners or businesses would be responsible for the fee. Staff indicated the city ordinance names the machine owner as responsible, not the host business, and noted contracts between hosts and machine owners vary. Council members also raised enforcement questions: the ordinance currently assigns oversight to the police chief, and staff suggested the city should re-examine whether that is the best enforcement lead.

Members discussed practical impacts: a council member said the proposed $100 increase for a large number of machines could raise revenue by roughly $22,000 to $44,000 in an example scenario, though staff emphasized those were illustrative figures and not final revenue projections. Council directed the city attorney (Joel) to draft legally sound ordinance changes and to review penalty levels for nonpayment, with a discussion to include whether fines should be high enough to encourage compliance rather than be largely symbolic.

Staff also said some machine owners already pass fees through to host businesses per private contracts, and that enforcement has been inconsistent when new machines appear. The council asked staff to return with proposed ordinance language, enforcement options, and projections of revenue impact before final adoption.

Ending: No formal vote was taken; staff will draft ordinance amendments and examine enforcement and fine structures for council consideration in a future meeting.