Georgetown Assistant Finance Director Nathan Parras discussed increasing fees pertaining to the parks and recreation department, fire services, library services, garbage services, and planning and development fees.
Parks and recreation
Recommendations from the Georgetown Parks and Recreation Department's latest cost recovery study, which include fee increases, will be implemented in January, according to Parras.
Fee increases will occur over multiple years to meet minimum cost recovery targets as well as aligning with benchmarks conducted, according to the city.
Proposed fee changes equate to $200,000 in new revenue, according to Parras.
Essentially, the parks and recreation department propose a $30 increase for annual passes to the recreation center for all guests, and an increase in tennis center annual passes ranging from $75-$215.
Other alterations include eliminating the membership concept and fee structure in favor of an admissions and passes concept, simplifying admission structure at all facilities, making passes or daily admissions facility specific, increasing the age of a senior from 55 to 60, implementing an auto renew process for passes, and implementing fee increases for admission and passes that are supported through a benchmarking assessment, according to the city.
Planning and development
Permitting and processing fees were most recently increased by 3% in November 2021, according to the city. Since that time, the combination of inflationary pressure and labor costs has shifted significantly. Projecting those pressures to extend through fiscal year 2023, staff recommends an increase to all permitting fees effective in October, according to Parras.
Proposed fee changes equate to approximately $870,000 in new revenue for new residential single-family and mixed-use rezoning, according to the city.
Waste services
The Texas Disposal Systems' wholesale rate will increase by 4% and is calculated based on variety of items, according to Parras.
Georgetown will raise the TDS wholesale on all customers and the administrative fee by 4%, according to the city.
Staff forecasts to recover the one-time fuel surcharge of $226,000 as part of the current-year revenues exceeding projections.
With the expressed changes, the retail rate for Tier 1 will be $21.82, and the retail rate for Tier 2 will be $32.18, according to Parras.
Fire and fire inspection services
The Georgetown Fire Department recently went through a cost recovery study and utilized its billing partner, Emergicon, to recommend changes to maintain regional competitiveness, according to Parras.
Parras noted less than 60% of fire department transports are Medicare and have a max allowable cost that limits revenue options.
Essentially, the proposed fee changes equate to $155,000 in new revenue from non-Medicare billings, according to the city.
Other alternations include taking fees associated with Basic Life Support from $690 for residents to $1,200 and fees associated with mileage from $15 per mile to $23 per mile, according to Parras.
Library Services
The Georgetown Public Library staff has reviewed area libraries’ fee structures and plans to implement changes to current fees that equate to $11,500 in new revenue, according to Parras.
Adjustments include nonresident membership fees, room rentals for nonprofits and others, according to Parras.
Parras said the fee evaluation and new revenue generated by the proposed fee increases are currently assumed in the fiscal year 2023 draft budget revenues.
An additional budget workshop with other departments will be held July 19-20, according to the city.
All Georgetown departments will present their fee ordinances to council August 23 and September 13, according to the city.
