Council raises 136 fees

The Newport Beach City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to pass an ordinance that will raise the prices residents pay for more than 100 city services, but backed down on increasing the cost of city permits for day care facilities after early childhood education advocates protested the fee hike.

The ordinance would have raised the price of fire permits for day care centers in the city from $208 to $729.

“This proposed increase is unimaginable at a time where more families need to work to make ends meet,” said Diamond Tran, an attorney for the Public Law Center, an advocacy group for low-income families in Orange County. “An increase in these fees will result in an increase in fees that will affect families.”

The council moved to subsidize 25% of the cost of day care fire permits, but passed the rest of the ordinance, which raises fees on 136 different city services, to little public protest.

Under new ordinance, the cost of basic life support in an ambulance will go from $192 to $227. The cost of oxygen during an ambulance ride will go from $65.50 to $76.

The ordinance also will lower the price of 62 city services. The cost of a bike license in Newport Beach will go from $4 to $2 under the ordinance.

Booking fees at Newport’s municipal jail will drop from $200 to $183.

The city also will begin charging for 11 services it does now free of charge, such as issuing short-term lodging permits, which will cost $88.

Many fee increases will be phased in over time to ease the effect on residents. The ordinance is expected to boost city revenue by about $3.5 million in the first year, according to city estimates.

The ordinance was the city’s response to a city-commissioned study released earlier this year that found Newport Beach should be charging residents about $5.6 million more per year in fees on everything from building permits to adult softball programs.

The city’s costs for services rose from $86 million in 2001 to $132 million in 2007, and the city’s fees have not been adjusted to keep pace, according to information from the Newport Beach City Council finance committee.

The council also was slated to vote late Tuesday to approve a $265 million budget for the next fiscal year.

The 2008-09 Newport Beach budget includes more than $224 million in anticipated revenue for the city. This year’s budget emphasizes new parks and building projects including a new city hall and senior center.

Officials may break ground on a new $20-million Oasis Senior Center as early as January 2009.

The project would get about $10 million of its funding from the city — the rest is slated to come from development fees and private donations.

The tentative budget also contains more than $3 million in funding for designing and permitting a new city hall.

BRIANNA BAILEY may be reached at (714) 966-4625 or at [email protected].