A virtual debate about fees

In response to my post questioning fees, someone I'll identify only as Constituent #2 took me to task for suggesting that the conservation commission was running amok.

I did no such thing.

What I did was to quote a constituent (call him Constituent #1) but I didn't make that clear. For the record, everything in italics is a quote. My apologies for the confusion.

That said; Constituent #2 made a few good points that answered some of the questions I raised about fees. It makes for a good discussion...

Constituent #2 began, "With the cost of governing the Town increasing substantially over the past several years, revenues from such things as user fees have not kept up. It can certainly be argued that some fee increases are long overdue."

It's a fair argument, but let's review the Administrative Approval example mentioned by Constituent #1. This fee is currently $25. It was initially proposed that this be increased by 100 percent to $50, but a member of the commission suggested that this be increased 200 percent to $75.

To the general public, jumps of 100 and 200 percent appear arbitrary. Or are they?

Constituent #2 went on to say that with some free outside help, the ConComm Chair and Administrator "spent a good amount of time researching what other towns on the cape are charging in the way of wetland permitting fees...Falmouth's fees are significantly below those of other towns on the Cape."

However, in his email which prompted my original post, Constituent #1 stated "If the Con Com, or any other town body, needs to charge fees to offset individual's costs, then they should be required and willing to do the work to justify them on a legitimate and auditable cost basis. Those costs must also be throttled by the concept of 'worth-what-paid-for', which is a realistic assessment of value to the payee, not just the inflated perception in the eye of the bureaucrats involved."

So, irrespective of what other towns are charging, fees should be based upon the services rendered. If Falmouth can provide the services for less than other Cape towns, then Falmouth should charge lower fees.

But what do those services cost?

Constituent #2 tells us, "...the revenues from fees...amounted to only about $80,000 which is half of what it costs the Town to administer [the state and local wetlands protection act]."

He goes on to say that, "...some of the retired people in Town who live very modestly on fixed incomes ought not to be expected to be paying taxes to make up the approximate $80,000 difference between the revenues and expenses...those people who can afford to build new homes or renovate old homes ought to be paying the user fees. They are the ones who will benefit, sometimes very handsomely if they turn around and sell the finished project which is very often the case."

This last sentence is a charged one. The commission can only consider the wetland resources; the financial resources or compensation of the applicant are not relevant to the commission's mission. Fees, therefore, cannot be based upon one's ability to pay, but rather upon the service rendered. Constituent #1 reflected this concern when he noted, "...if you want to trim your shrubs that are 99 feet from some arbitrary wetland boundary, you don't have a competitive choice of where to shop for approval."

Constituent #2 wraps up his email, "The principle behind a user fee is that the one who benefits from using a service is the one who ought to pay for it. You might have remembered that was the position you yourself took in the case of the New Silver Beach wastewater treatment project betterment issue a couple of short years ago."

Touche! my friend. Indeed, I did.

Constituent #1 echoed this philosophy in his email when he stated, "Nobody should be required to pay one penny beyond the value of any regulatory service provided by any town organization."


I see common ground here.

Both of our neighbors agree that fees should fairly reflect the value of the services rendered. At issue is whether the current fees, or those proposed, will do so. To use our familiar example, What does it cost the town to do an Administrative Approval? What is the per hour cost to the town? How many hours are involved?

More importantly, is an Administrative Approval something that should require a fee? Is this a service that should be included as part of our annual tax bills? Are there other services that should require a fee, but don't?

I think this is a discussion worth having.

Do you?