Boise considers parking fine increases, other fee hikes 

The Boise City Council will consider a range of fee hikes July 21 that would raise costs on everything from expired parking meter violations to sports fees to burial at Morris Hill Cemetery.

Parking fines would increase from $12 to $15 for expired meters, $20 to $23 for re-feeding meters, $15 to $18 for time zone violations and $37 to $40 for hazardous violations.

Other proposed increases include the cost of registering a softball team this fall, which would rise from $339 to $349; the price to adopt a bench, which would jump from $275 to $650; and the cost to buy a monument at Morris Hill Cemetery, which would rise from $725 to $900, a 24 percent increase.

The proposal would also create a new $1 Internet guest pass at city libraries to prevent abuse of computer resources.

Additionally, sewer rates will jump as the city begins to address phosphorus discharges into the Boise River, part of a remediation plan mandated by the federal Environmental Protection Agency, said city spokesman Adam Park. The typical residential user, charged $19.28 for 658 cubic feet of sewage, would pay $21.60 under the increase.

Click here to see the full list of proposed increases.

The fee hikes would raise $328,000 for parking services, $20,000 for parks and recreation and $2.3 million for public works. They would take effect Oct. 1, 2009.

The council has scheduled a public hearing as part of its 6 p.m. regular meeting.

Park said the city reviews all fees every two years and always faces a tradeoff between user fees and taxpayer subsidies.

“What we try to do with these fee increases is find the appropriate balance between users paying for the cost of the program itself and taxpayer subsidizing it,” he said. “Right now, most of these parks and rec programs are paid through a combination of those things. If we were not to raise those fees, that would create a heavier burden on the taxpayer as the cost of these programs go up.”

He also downplayed concerns that the parking fine increases would discourage people from driving and shopping downtown, saying that it should actually maximize turnaround in the street stalls and benefit businesses.

“One of the things we try to link that to is the cost of staying all day in a garage,” he said. “If (the fine is) less than the cost of parking in a garage, you’re not incentivizing people to park in the garage, so you’re creating the situation where there’s fewer spots available on the street. … If customers can find a place to park and do their business in an hour or less, that should increase activity.”

Council will vote on a final budget with the proposed fee increases Aug. 11.

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