Denton council approves updated special-event fees, standard parade routes and requests outreach to help organizers

City staff described a multi-year effort to standardize special-event permitting, recover costs for public-safety staffing and refine how the city awards in-kind funds to community events, and the City Council voted on June 3 to approve staff'recommended fee changes and to move the new process forward for implementation.

Terrence Jones, grants program manager, and Christine Taylor, who introduced the item, told the council the city has seen a 70% increase in special-event permits since 2021 and that staffing and unreimbursed overtime have grown. Staff presented updated police and fire hourly rates intended to achieve full cost recovery for public-safety staffing on events: proposed police officer rates would rise from $65 to $85 per hour, sergeant rates from $80 to $100 and lieutenant/commander rates from $95 to $115. Jones said parks and general fund support would remain in place for community events and that the city's in-kind support budget remains $400,000 in the general fund.

Jones said the city has implemented a crowd-size tracking tool…