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Crafton discusses fee schedule overhaul and pool pricing after 20 years without major changes
Summary
Council participants reviewed a proposed fee schedule update that uses CPI adjustments after 20 years of little change; items under discussion included pool passes, lesson fees, rarely charged permit fees, and how to avoid sudden hardship from large, one-time increases.
During the Dec. 11 budget workshop, Speaker 1 raised the fee schedule and wage schedule for discussion, noting the body was not approving fees at the workshop but wanted to review them before the public meeting. Speaker 1 said the fee schedule printed for review was the current proposal and that discussing it now could save time during the public meeting.
Speaker 2 explained most fees have not changed since 2005 and said he adjusted rarely-used fees upward by about 60–70% to align with a 68.5% cumulative CPI change since 2005. “I did an estimate… the CPI difference from there is 68.5%,” Speaker 2 said. The presenter said increases focused on fees that occur infrequently (zoning and hearing board application fees) while eliminating a separate manual processing fee for pool registration by folding a 5% online processing fee into the pool transaction.
Participants discussed pool passes and resident access. Speaker 2 said the borough historically set higher nonresident pricing to limit crowding from surrounding city users; current practice was described as residents and nonresidents paying the same ($15 in the transcript), but the policy rationale was to encourage resident access. Speaker 2 reported raising lesson fees based on staff feedback and wage increases. Discussion participants flagged the 20-year gap in fee updates and suggested the finance committee perform a careful review to avoid sudden hardship for users who rely on long-standing, low fees.
Other fee-related items included photocopying and public-records charges (noted to be rarely used), and amusement-device taxes as a potential revenue source, with Speaker 2 referencing a recent laundromat break-in that targeted gaming/skill machines as context for enforcement and collection. Several participants said changes that would significantly affect vulnerable users should be phased or examined further by the finance committee.
The workshop did not adopt fee schedule changes; participants agreed to refer detailed pricing adjustments and implementation timing to the finance committee and to consider public meeting discussion before any formal vote.
