Some of the new user fees for Fort Frances residents took effect today after town council gave a third and final reading to the bylaw at a special meeting Wednesday afternoon.
The user fee schedule—which lists hundreds of items—sees numerous hikes across the board, from business licences and building permits to rates charged at the Memorial Sports Centre and Fort Frances Children’s Complex.
On average, these increases make rates 20-25 percent higher than they were—with some exceptions at either end of the spectrum. Those fees that didn’t go into effect today, will either next month (like arena and pool fees) or this later summer.
Some of the new rates are as follows:
•child care rates for residents for a full day (four hours or more) have changed from $28.95 for the first child—and $17.35 for the second child and each one after that—to $30.40 and $18.20, respectively;
•prime time ice surface rentals for youth at the arena has risen from $64/hour to $80/hour (for adults, this will rise from $96 to $120);
•the rate for special care at the cemetery (where a one-time fee is paid and the town plants flowers on gravesites each year) has increased 143 percent from $825 to $2,000;
•adult single and adult double lots at the cemetery have gone from $250 to $300, and $500 to $600, respectively;
•tipping fees at the dump have increased from $38 a tonne to $45.50;
•youth soccer fees (half-field, per team) have gone from $90 to $110;
•annual memberships for adults at the Memorial Sports Centre have increased from $360 to $400;
•a babysitting course now will cost $40 instead of $30;
•renting the East End Hall now will cost $165 for a social/wedding reception, where it used to cost $149;
•daily parking fees at the airport have doubled from $2 to $4;
•non-residents now have to pay $75 for a seasonal pass (September to April) to use the walking track the ’52 Canadians Arena, or $2/day (residents can continue to walk for free).
Water and sewer rates also have jumped, going from the current rate of $19.08 for water and $25.18 for sewer (for a combined monthly rate of $44.26) to $23.47 and $30.97, respectively (for a combined monthly rate of $54.44).
Residents also will be billed retroactively to the beginning of this year.
While Mayor Dan Onichuk suggested council amend that part of the fee schedule so residents could pay the $40 they’ll be charged for January through April spread out over billing for the rest of the year instead of one lump sum, council ended up passing the bylaw as is.
Mayor Onichuk also asked, on behalf of constituents, why docking fees at the Sorting Gap Marina did not go up as so many other user fees did.
Community Services manager George Bell replied there already are 15-20 empty slips at the marina, and any increase to docking fees would discourage any potential new users.
He added most slips being rented for 2004 already have been paid for, and a rate change this year likely would not yield any more money for the town because they couldn’t apply any increase retroactively.
“I just think there’s some merit to the argument and it should be discussed,” noted Mayor Onichuk, suggesting raising the docking fees should be an issue in September.
For the most part, the new user fees are aimed to recover 70 percent of operating costs (or about $180,000 annually).
A complete copy of the user fee schedule is available at the Civic Centre.
