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Providence updates city fee schedule for 2025; council approves cemetery, right-of-way and utility changes
Summary
The council adopted Resolution 16-2024 to update the city fee schedule for calendar year 2025. Changes include a new exhumation fee, adjustments to right-of-way and encroachment permits, stormwater and sewer rate increases tied to external costs, and clarification of city fiber drop installation allowances.
Providence City Council on Dec. 18 adopted an updated city fee schedule for 2025 that adjusts several user fees, adds an exhumation charge, and clarifies utility and park reservation charges.
City staff described multiple changes. Cemetery policy now includes a separate $2,500 fee for exhumation when required (staff said exhumations have occurred "a handful" of times during the current manager's tenure). Weekend burial fees were increased to reflect higher labor costs. The council recorded that cemetery openings total roughly 66 per year; cremations accounted for a portion of those openings.
Right-of-way and roadway encroachment fees were reworked: staff said the city split prior combined fees, reducing charges for minor right-of-way encroachments (not affecting asphalt) while increasing the fee for encroachments that impact the roadway surface. The draft also added explicit fees for amended final plats with and without construction drawings and for large commercial/multifamily reviews.
On the city-owned fiber utility, staff recommended removing a previously noted non-subscriber $10 placeholder that had never been implemented; staff said more than 1,800 active subscribers are currently on the network. The schedule also sets a city contribution for fiber drops (proposed as covering the equivalent of 100 feet or $700) with residents paying any incremental cost for drops beyond that allowance.
Staff proposed modest sewer and stormwater rate increases tied to Logan City and landfill charge increases; the council approved the overall schedule by motion and voice vote. The resolution also added permit language anticipating a possible future county-level emergency medical/EMS cost-sharing charge if regional arrangements change.
Council members asked procedural questions about specific line items such as pavilion reservations and baseball-lighting demand charges; staff explained the $50 pavilion reservation and separate park use fees. The council approved the fee schedule on a voice vote.
