Moneymaking ideas St. Charles won’t use

The St. Charles City Council will debate a list of about 15 ideas to generate new income for the city during budget discussions later this month, but there a number of new fees residents won’t have to worry about.

City staff already rejected several ideas for making money, including a couple of the most popular recommendations. At the top of the list was the creation of a city vehicle sticker, an idea mentioned by several candidates during the city council election cycle. City staff estimated such a sticker could net about $500,000 in new money for the city.

“We’ve decided at this point we’re not going to move forward on that,” City Administrator Brian Townsend said. “It’s not something that’s ever popular with residents. It’s difficult to enforce. And, in terms of annual administration of the stickers, there’s a lot of costs involved. I don’t think it’s something you’ll see staff bring back to the city council any time soon.”

The second most popular idea was to create a business licensing program. City staff estimated that idea could spur $70,000 a year in new money. Townsend said local businesses are not in a position to add another government cost to their price for doing business.

Other rejected ideas include increasing the alcoholic beverage tax the city created last year. Local tavern owners did not favor that new tax, but city staff said it is living up to expectations in terms of the money flowing into city coffers.

Staff also said there is no interest in charging a parking fee at city parking garages or in trying to sell naming rights of city property to private businesses. Staff said the market for such sponsorships is cloudy at best as is selling advertising space within city parking garages.