Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Street Tree Program topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Parks board approves higher homeowner charge for street trees to cover costs
Summary
After a forestry presentation noting low staffing and rising costs, the board voted unanimously to raise the spring 2025 street-tree assessment to $3.97 per charged tree to recover more labor and material expenses.
The Parks, Recreation and Forestry Board voted unanimously to set the charged per-tree assessment for the spring 2025 public street planting program at $3.97 per tree, up from the $3.50 staff had recommended.
Melissa Lipska, subbing for the city forester, told the board the spring program will plant 47 new trees in Fox Lake and Howell Oaks and 55 trees along Magnolia Drive after a road reconstruction. She said staffing constraints are limiting how many trees the city can plant this year and cited species-diversity goals: “We are at, 50% forestry staffing right now,” she said, noting that lower staffing reduces the program’s ability to complete the usual number of plantings.
Board members pressed on cost recovery and the likely upward pressure on labor and tree prices. One member moved to raise the charged amount to better capture direct and indirect costs; another seconded. The motion passed unanimously.
The board was told replacement trees are rarely charged to homeowners; the assessment applies only to new trees tied to development and is required by the city street-tree ordinance, staff said. The change will be forwarded as a recommendation to the common council for scheduling of the formal assessment hearing and final action.
