Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Fee Schedule topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Alice council reviews fee-schedule changes: water tiers, garbage, parks rentals and vendor permits under review
Summary
City staff proposed modest increases for high-use water tiers and sanitation, new nonrefundable season fees for leased park fields, and clarified mobile-vendor permit structures; council raised concerns about organizer-run markets that had been granted temporary fee waivers and unpaid permit invoices. Council directed staff to refine permit and invoicing practices.
Alice City Council members on Aug. 26 reviewed proposed changes to the city—s fee schedule that would affect utility billing, sanitation, parks rentals and vendor permitting.
Staff said standard residential water customers (typical use shown at 4,000–6,000 gallons) would see no base rate change, while higher-consumption tiers and accounts outside the city limits would see increases to reflect higher treatment and delivery costs. Staff described the tier structure as covering roughly 12,000 gallons in the first three tiers and said most single-family homes use about 7,000 gallons.
On sanitation, staff proposed a modest monthly increase to $23.75 per unit — equivalent to about $2.74 per pickup for twice-weekly service — citing fuel, personnel and equipment costs and a landfill development fee that must be covered. City staff said the adjustment is intended to help cover ongoing operational and replacement costs.
Parks and recreation fees were a focus: staff proposed turning some refundable deposits into nonrefundable season or league fees to help recoup the cost of recent improvements (lighting, irrigation, scoreboards). The packet showed a nonrefundable season/league reservation amount (example: $7.50) and a per-day concession-use fee ($50); staff said the city currently refunds cleaning deposits (for example, $35) when conditions are met.
Food vendors and special-event permitting drew extensive council attention. Staff explained the difference between a mobile food-vendor permit (listed at $25 per month or $250 per year at a specific location) and a special-event vendor permit ($35 for up to five days). Peddlers and multi-person vendor stalls were shown with a separate fee example of $100 for up to five people. City staff cautioned that scattered, non-event vendors require individual inspections that can be less cost-efficient than inspecting multiple vendors at a centralized special event.
On the Moon Market and Tejano Roots events, council members pressed staff about a temporary six-month arrangement that had allowed Moon Market organizers to operate under a single flat fee while the city waived individual vendor fees. Ruben, a staff member who handles vendor coordination, explained the city had allowed a temporary flat-fee structure to help the event get started and that staff had been working to collect required information and payments from organizers. Council members raised concerns that organizer payments (cited as approximately $300 in some instances) were not current and suggested suspending operations or revising the agreement until invoicing and permit compliance were resolved.
Council also requested that staff: add advertising rates for fence billboards to the fee schedule, clarify concession and food-handler enforcement, and return with proposed rates for season rentals and concessions.
What to watch: The council asked staff to return with finalized numbers and suggested the city formalize agreements for event street closures, advertising on city property and payment collection from event organizers.
