Chandler council OKs new citywide fee schedule

By Jason W. Brooks
Mail | X: @JasonWBrooks2

A lengthy discussion led up to the Chandler City Council’s most recent approval of citywide fee increases.

And, just as when Council approved a similar sweeping fee increase a little more than a year ago, it wasn’t a unanimous vote.

Council approved a public works fee schedule with some increases in it unanimously at its Feb. 26 meeting. But since community services, police and cultural development department fees were voted upon as a separate motion, that only passed by a 5-2 margin.

Mayor Kevin Hartke and Council member Christine Ellis voted against the motion, which will make no changes to city resident fees, where applicable.

All four categories of new fees go into effect March 2.

“I’ve been out at soccer fields recently, and I was asked about the status of this, as the fields are getting beat up by the amount of play,” Hartke said. “I don’t see this as taxes. We’re just asking people to pay for services, and they can opt in, or opt out.”

Ellis said city residents have been educated on how the cost of everything from staffing to facility maintenance to new services and features have all risen.

“We’ve been working on this,” she said. “We understand that this is inflation time and everybody has to pay a little more.”

Budget Director Matt Dunbar, whose presentation kicked off the discussion, included and described a slide that defines taxes versus fees in more than 10 different ways.

In a December 2024 vote, postponed for a month after a lengthy November discussion led by Council member O.D. Harris about resident versus non-resident fees, Council approved a 2025 fee schedule by a 5-2 vote then, too.

Harris and then-Council member Mark Stewart, who frequently used a colloquial, personal definition of fees as taxes in meetings, were the two “no” votes on that December 2024 proposal that went into effect in early 2025.

Email Jason W. Brooks at jbrooks@iniusa.org. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.

Jason W. Brooks
News Editor | Chandler Independent

Jason W. Brooks joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in July 2021 as an associate editor. After a year covering Buckeye, he has covered Chandler since the fall of 2022, in addition to assisting the Daily Independent throughout his time at INI.

Education: University of New Mexico, bachelor of arts in journalism and mass communication, print emphasis, English minor.

Random Fact: He and his siblings witnessed a Space Shuttle launch and landing in the same year in person, on opposite coasts.

Hobbies: Karaoke, bicycling and American Sign Language.

Community: He supports animal shelters.