New taxes, higher fees set for some Elgin services

Elgin City Council members should approve a host of new and updated taxes and fees Wednesday as the 2012 budget discussions officially draw to a close.

Adjusted fees that didn’t make their way into previous discussions include slight increases to burial fees at Bluff City Cemetery, higher shelter rentals in city parks and more expensive golfing at The Highlands.

The cemetery fees are higher because of increased costs the city will pay to outside vendors, according to Aaron Cosentino, management analyst for Elgin.

Shelter rentals are one of the few increases to the Parks and Recreation Department for 2012. Randy Reopelle, director of that department, said the approximately 6-percent increase will help recover the costs of replacement for tables and chairs in the shelters.

Elgin currently charges less than average for shelter rentals and will move up to the middle of the pack compared to surrounding communities, according to Reopelle.

“Generally speaking we try to keep our rates relatively inexpensive for our residents,” Reopelle said.

Golfing at The Highlands will be about 10 percent more expensive next year if the council approves the new fee schedule. Mike Lehman, director of golf operations, said the extra money will help maintain wider fairways and bigger greens so the golf fund doesn’t need any help from the general fund to stay afloat.

“Our intention is to stay as far away from tax dollars as possible,” Lehman said.

An electricity tax, municipal gas tax, liquor tax, refuse fee and leaf rake-out surcharge have been discussed and preliminarily approved by the council for the 2012 budget.

Water rates will go down 1 percent in 2012, thanks to savings from upgrades to the Airlite Water Treatment Plant, and then increase at a rate of 5 percent moving forward. Most of the other taxes and fees will see a 3-percent increase per year, according to projections by city staff members.

There will be slight increases to rental rates for the Hemmens Cultural Center but they will not take effect until the 2012/2013 program year. Based on the plan the council is set to approve, nonprofits will see a 35-percent discount on the base building rate and Elgin resident individuals and organizations will get 25 percent off the same. The Elgin Symphony Orchestra will get a 10-percent discount for its events. A complete list of taxes and fees in the proposed budget is available at cityofelgin.org/2012budget under the user fees section of the supplemental data tab.