Nibley council adopts fee-schedule changes including higher stormwater and solid-waste administrative fees, new contractor water charges

The Nibley City Council adopted Resolution 2427, approving annual amendments to the consolidated fee schedule. City staff described the updates as an effort to align fees with the actual cost of providing services; the council approved the resolution and waived a second reading.

Amy (staff) presented the schedule changes and said the review was accelerated this year by an increase in solid-waste costs from the city’s contractor. "Our goal is to make sure that the fees are all aligned very closely with the actual cost of providing these services," Amy said.

Major changes approved or proposed in the schedule include:

- A new contractor water charge structure to meter contractor use from hydrants and sell water by the thousand gallons; staff said the primary purpose is to meter and track contractor usage and ensure safe connections and backflow prevention, not to generate revenue.

- A $0.10 administrative fee per solid-waste can and a 5.1% contract-driven increase in residential collection charges; staff said the combined change amounts to roughly a $1.28 per month increase for a standard 96-gallon can plus recycling service under the new contract terms.

- Increase of the residential stormwater inspection fee for new construction from $150 to $350 per year to better reflect inspection and permitting workload for new development. Staff acknowledged that even $350 falls short of full cost but said it was a reasonable adjustment.

- Clarifications and additions to animal-license and impound-fee language to reflect services provided by Cache County (staff said the county collects certain animal fees directly).

- Higher weekend pavilion fees and a new cleaning fee and deposit policy for community-room and pavilion rentals to cover additional weekend cleaning and staffing costs; the city said it had hired a part-time weekend employee to address recurring cleanliness problems at some rentals.

- An increase in building repair and maintenance hourly charge from $30 to $40 to cover additional documentation and administrative time.

- A new water-theft fee and related penalties for illegal culinary-water hookups; staff said code amendments are required before those penalties can be enforced and they will return to council with the necessary code language.

Amy described meter rental, deposit and enforcement specifics for contractor hydrant use: contractors pay a deposit for the meter and are charged per gallon; the city’s priority is to meter and ensure safe, compliant use rather than to maximize revenue. "We're much less concerned about the revenue than we are actually metering and knowing the data," Amy said.

Council members asked questions about particular fees, enforcement and service impacts. Staff acknowledged that some of the newly listed fees rely on future code amendments and that the city will bring those code changes back to the council before enforcement.

Council member Norman Larson moved to approve Resolution 2427 and waive a second reading; the motion passed on voice/roll call and the council thanked staff for the review and work on the budget and fee clarifications.

This article summarizes the fee-schedule discussion and the principal changes adopted or proposed; code changes required to enforce some water-related penalties remain outstanding and will be returned to council.