The Chandler City Council voted, 5-2, Dec. 12 to approve a new citywide fee schedule that covers several departments and types of city services, including ball field rentals.
A month later than expected, the Chandler has a new citywide fee schedule.
The Chandler City Council voted, 5-2, Dec. 12 on the new schedule, which is not an across-the board set of increases.
Council member Mark Stewart and Vice Mayor O.D. Harris voted against the new schedule, which takes effect Jan. 1.
Stewart said, during the Dec. 12 meeting, that at a time when the city appears to be doing well financially, applying increases that only amount to tens of thousands of dollars in departmental revenue, at most, isn’t what the city ought to do.
“I’ll be voting no,” Stewart said during the meeting. “We have a surplus in our budget right now, and a good base, and I don’t think the timing is right. I’d like to see it moved to next year or something like that.”
Stewart, the only Chandler Council whose final term ends this month, wasn’t the only one opposed. Harris, this year’s vice mayor, also voted no, having voiced his opposition at the Nov. 7 meeting.
Harris’ main aim was wanting to see more discounts for city residents, with visitors using city facilities asked to pay slightly more. That goal seemed to be accomplished, as not only was the vote on the new schedule moved back one month from November to December for review, but also, a sampling of fees shows no increases for residents not also borne by non-residents to the same or a lesser extent.
Council member Jane Poston asked staff to clarify whether the city has a $15-million-plus budget surplus, as she said that rumor was “circulating on social media.”
Harris, City Manager Josh Wright and Chief Financial Officer Dawn Lang all clarified that the surplus Stewart and Poston described is a reflection of quarterly financial reports, and not much of a full picture of the city’s finances.
Lang pointed out that there were some large construction permits pulled recently that are only a factor in monthly or quarterly reporting, once all other revenues and expenditures are taken into account.
Wright said not only are there still some projects or other expenditures backed by one-time funding from various sources, but the city’s revenue is not necessarily on track to remain high throughout the fiscal year. For example, the city expects to have a shortfall of an estimated $5.5 million in the first half of calendar 2025 through the legislature-approved sunset of the state’s rental tax.
Wright also pointed out the increases are for items such as picnic pavilion rentals, where residents or local businesses are taking an item out of public use for a time.
None of this mattered to Stewart, who continued to refer to the new fee schedule as a “tax,” despite Mayor Kevin Hartke clarifying the proper legal term is “fees.”
The fee schedule covers dozens of city services and rentals in the Community Services department, which oversees parks and recreation and more. It also covers fees charged by Cultural Development, Development Services, Fire, and Public Works and Utilities departments.
After a year and a half of staff calculations, public input committee and council work-session effort, council was set to take a final vote on new Jan. 1, 2025 fees at its Nov. 7 meeting.
Harris, concerned with costs being passed along to Chandler residents, convinced enough of his colleagues to continue the approval in order to examine some of the fees, especially parks and recreation.
One example of a proposed increase, as listed in the agenda packet for the study session, is the resident fee for ball field reservation with no lights.
That’s set to rise from $11 per hour this year to $14 per hour in 2025 for Chandler residents, while non-residents will see a rise from $14 to $19 per hour.
Pool passes, one of the more widely discussed items in the Nov. 7 meeting, have discounted rates for both city residents and seniors.
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.
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