(Danville) — Danville’s City Manager has re-worked a schedule of fee changes that City Council rejected last month. But there are still lingering questions.
Instead of $500, Ken Larking is now proposing a $250 fee for Short-Term Rental Inspections. But Martha Rae told City Council this week the lower amount is still punitive. “If it is for inspections or to cover complaints, then why not put the onus on the offenders and not everyone who has a short-term rental,” Ray asked Council. “I feel like it is an unfair attempt to achieve a goal that could be reached straight-forwardly for what it is.
The proposed fee has dropped from a thousand dollars—to 500—to 250. But it’s still too much for Councilman Lee Vogler. “The 250 seems excessive to me. I voted no when we went through these last time and I’m still going to be a no on that one unless something changes,” Vogler said.
Larking is also asking Planning Application fees go up from 360-to-400 dollars, applications to the Board of Zoning Appeals to increase from 206-to-250 dollars, and for various increases in building inspection fees. He says those fees are in line with comparable cities.
Larking is renewing his request for a 12-dollar increase in sanitation fees to help with the rising cost of equipment needed to provide the service. “We’ve been able to keep fees low for many years. Last year we increased it by a dollar a month in order to meet the rising costs of providing the services,” Larking told Council. “We will need to add another dollar a month next year to make sure the fund remains self-supporting.”
Larking is also asking Council again to increase Cemetery Fees. He says the Cemetery Fund will run out of money next year if the new fees are not adopted. Cemetery fees have been unchanged for 12 years. “In order to keep them (cemeteries) mowed and in good shape, we need to generate the revenue needed to pay for that.”
City Council had a first reading of the new schedule this week. A final vote is scheduled for later this month.
