ESCONDIDO – Escondido residents will feel an extra pinch on their budgets if the City Council approves wide-ranging increases in fees next week.
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Proposed Escondido fee increases
What: The city is considering various fee increases, including for paramedics, fire-prevention plans and inspections, towing, police staffing of special events, and the use of sports and community facilities.
Amount of increase: Varies from $5 an hour for the use of sports fields and ball courts to $95 for some fire-plan reviews.
Why: To cover increases in fuel and utility costs and salaries.
When: 4 p.m. Wednesday, City Council meeting
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The city is proposing to charge more for its paramedics and the equipment they use, for reviews of fire-prevention plans and building and fire-safety inspections, and for the use of sports facilities.
The proposal also recommends a new fee for police personnel who work at special events, something the city doesn't charge for now. The cost would be from $30 per hour to $88 per hour, depending on the person's rank.
Escondido's revenue manager, Joan Ryan, said reasons for the proposed fee increases include the cost of fuel for ambulances and medical equipment that paramedics use; salary increases, including a higher minimum wage; and higher maintenance costs and electricity bills for lighting ballfields and courts.
The city has always asked users to pay the full cost of city services and has increased fees from time to time, Ryan said.
The increases would generate and additional $140,000 per year for the city, about 2.3 percent of the projected $6 million in revenue from service fees this fiscal year. If approved, the new fees would take effect between Sept. 1 and Jan. 1.
Some examples of the fee increases include:
Cost of being transported by an ambulance, from $16 per mile to $18.50 per mile.
Oxygen supplied by paramedics during transport, from $70 to $80.
Fire-prevention building plan review, from $45 to $180 to $50 to $275.
Use of sports fields, from $10 to $30 an hour to $15 to $35 an hour.
Police Department fees for towed vehicles, from $135 to $175, depending on vehicle size, to $175 to $200.
Services that would cost less include copying documents at the City Clerk's Office. Bicycle license fees would be eliminated.
Services that would remain the same include building plan checks and building permits, Ryan said.
Angela Lau: (760) 737-7575; angela.lau@uniontrib.com
