Bullhead City reviews annual fee schedule; staff propose $25 printed budget fee, private pavilion rental rules

Bullhead City held a workshop Feb. 14 to review its annual comprehensive fee schedule, and city staff recommended several minor, targeted changes rather than broad rate increases.

Speaker 3 said the city is proposing few changes this year and highlighted three items: a $25 fee for printed hard copies of the budget, a private rental rate for the Gary Keith Park pavilion, and removing the council chambers from the public rental list. "It just says budget, dollars 25," Speaker 3 said when introducing the printed-budget charge, noting the city continues to make the budget available online and provides a copy at City Hall and in the meeting room for public viewing.

Why it matters: charging for printed copies aims to recover clerk-office copying costs and curb staff time spent producing multiple hard copies for walk-in requests. Finance staff also pointed attendees to the city's finance web page where an interactive budget is available.

On parks rentals, Speaker 3 described the proposed pavilion fee as targeted at private promoters. "For the 15 years that I've been the city manager, not 1 non profit has ever paid to rent our parks ever," Speaker 3 said, stressing nonprofits would continue to receive waivers. The city described the $1,000 figure as a base rental fee for a private, whole-day event; additional deposits or charges apply for cleaning, damage, staffing or city-provided services.

Council members asked whether private events are physically separated from public access. Speaker 3 said event organizers typically handle cordoning or wristbands and that in some cases fences or paid staff are used: "We might have a company that rents a portion of a park for a company picnic... it's kind of their responsibility to keep their area cordoned off." The city said staff meets with event promoters (Dave Heath or other parks staff) to review parameters including security and alcohol vendors.

Facilities: Speaker 3 recommended removing the council chambers from the rental schedule now that other public meeting spaces are available, including the Optimum Center, the new senior center and a meeting room at the animal shelter. "This room probably doesn't need to be available for public rental anymore, and it can just be reserved for city utilization," Speaker 3 said; council members voiced agreement in principle.

Next steps: Staff noted that most fee additions require a 60-day public posting under state law before adoption, and that eliminating line items (such as the council chambers rental) can be done without the same posting requirement. The workshop closed with no formal vote recorded; staff will return with proposed ordinance or administrative changes as required and the council will consider them at a future meeting.