Politics & Government

City Fees Going Up for Many Oak Creek Businesses

Officials say increases help cover city's expenses; one aldermen votes in opposition.

Many Oak Creek businesses will see municipal fees rise after the Common Council approved a series of increases last week.

City officials said they proposed the increases to bring the Health Department inspection, re-inspection and license fees, as well as clerk's office license fees, closer to the true cost of performing those tasks. 

They had not been raised in some time - health department fees have stayed the same since 2007, while clerk's office license fees have not increased in the last eight years. Most rates will go up in varying amounts, depending on the type of business, though they were generally lowered from . 

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The adjusted fees will increase revenue by a combined $31,000, according to city projections.

In addition to recovering the city's costs, Mayor Dick Bolender said residential taxpayers should not have to bear the burden for business-related expenses.

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However, Alderman Ken Gehl, the only council member to vote against the increases, said the measure unfairly punishes business owners.

The increases "ignores completely the mantra we've used during budgeting the last several years about 'no new taxes,' Gehl said. "Fees are really just another tax that fall upon a very specific population.

"Many folks don't use the library or ball fields, or even the police and fire department in any given year, for that matter. Yet we pay handsomely for those services each year at tax time. Do we instead start charging for 'per use' for those services too?"

Bolender and other aldermen disagree with that line of thinking. The mayor, although he doesn't have a vote on the council, said businesses must be treated differently because they generate revenue. 

And "the fees were so far out of whack" that they had to be fine-tuned, Bolender said.

Recycling center

The council also approved an option for residents to pay a $25 annual fee to use the recycling center, rather than a $2 daily fee.

The fee for the recycling center is a new one, approved late last year as part of the 2011 budget. It will be prorated this year to $20 due to the late start, City Administrator Gerald Peterson said, and will be $25 for 2012 and beyond.

That measure passed 4-2, with Gehl and Alderman Steve Scaffidi against.

Scaffidi said the ordinance needed more work before he could vote in favor. Several situations - like elderly people who can't haul trash to the curb and need to use the recycling center - were left unaccounted for, he said. 

"At some point down the line I could support it, but I wanted to see more formality," he said.


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