Proposed fee changes could generate around $119,000 of revenue per year for the city of Texarkana, Ark.
At a workshop meeting Thursday, Mayor Ruth Penney-Bell, City Manager Kenny Haskin and other city officials discussed new and increased fees for various fire department and animal shelter services. The proposal probably will come before the Board of Directors for a vote in March, Haskin said.
The city has not revisited its fee schedule in at least 30 years, and some adjustments are overdue, he said. Though they consume city resources, many of the services in question are performed free of charge. For others, the city charges fees that staff say should be increased.
"We have to adjust to the cost of doing business. It just makes good sense. The cost of materials has gone up, but that's not reflected in what we charge," Haskin said. "We have to do something sooner rather than later."
Texarkana, Ark., Fire Department conducts annual fire safety inspections free of charge. Under the proposal, inspections of day care centers and group homes would cost $40, and those of nursing homes and manufacturing facilities would cost $75. Hotel or motel inspections would cost $20 plus $2 per room. First re-inspections would be free, but second and subsequent re-inspections would cost $75.
Penney-Bell questioned whether nonprofit group homes like Watersprings Ranch and Opportunities Inc. should be charged for fire inspections. The panel agreed that they should be given a discount, charged only one inspection fee to cover all the multiple buildings on their grounds.
TAFD does not charge for responding to false fire alarms, although responses can involve four trucks, Chief David Fletcher said. The proposal would assess a fee for repeated false alarms, starting with a business' or home's fourth. False alarms four through six each would result in a $50 fee for a commercial building or a $35 fee for a residence. The seventh and subsequent false alarms would cost $75 for a commercial building or $45 for a residence.
Under the proposal, TAFD would charge a fee equal to 100 percent of the cost of materials it used to clean up hazardous materials. The cost of an open burning permit would double from $100 to $200.
The proposed fee changes for TAFD would generate an estimated $21,000 a year in additional revenue, Finance Director TyRhonda Henderson said.
Several proposed fee increases for services at the Animal Care and Adoption Center are calculated to cover expenses the shelter is now paying out of pocket, Director Charles Lokey said. Henderson said the proposed fee changes for the shelter would bring in about $98,000 a year.
The first five days of holding an animal for another city would cost a fee that differs proportionate to the city's population. The fee for Fouke, Ark., and Redwater, Texas, would be $126; for Nash, Texas, $129; for Wake Village, Texas, $132; and for Texarkana, Texas, $171. After five days, each city would be charged an additional $10 per day. Assisting an outside agency, except any on the Texas side, would result in a fee of $250.
The fee for quarantining animals suspected of having rabies would increase from $140 to $150. For anyone living outside of Texarkana, Ark., specimen testing for rabies-currently free-would cost $40.
The cost of reclaiming an animal that required chemical capture would jump from $10 to $25, while boarding one would increase from $10 to $20. The fee to reclaim captured livestock would increase from $40 to $150 per animal, and a new livestock disposal fee would be $150 per animal.
The city license for any pet that has not been spayed or neutered would increase from $10 to $30.
If the Board of Directors approves the fee changes, the city would make every effort to quickly notify all who would be affected, Henderson said. Haskin said that Texas-side City Hall is aware that some changes in the Arkansas side's fee structure may be coming.