STANTON : Council Puts City Fee Hikes on Hold

Hoping to mollify business people upset about a recently imposed 6% utility tax, the City Council has agreed to postpone a decision to increase many city fees until after a special meeting today.

Council members will hold the joint session today with the Stanton Chamber of Commerce. They have also pledged $7,000 to a new campaign called Buy and Shop in Stanton (BASIS), which was planned by the chamber and city staff.

Under that program, businesses will take out advertisements in a coupon booklet, and local retailers will distribute 15,000 of the booklets to their customers. Another 15,000 booklets will be mailed to residents. The program will run July through September.

Councilman Sal Sapien said he is willing to walk door to door to deliver the booklets.

“We need to do something to show that the city is pro-business,” Joan Thomas, executive director of the chamber, told the council.

The new utility tax, which goes into effect in July, will require businesses and residents to pay a 6% surcharge on water, electricity, gas and phone service. Some businesses have criticized the decision as ill-timed in the midst of current economic difficulties.

At last week’s meeting, the council also debated whether to raise city fees after seeing the results of a $40,000 study performed by an Anaheim consulting firm.

The study found that the city subsidizes many services, such as building permits and reviews, because it charges customers less than these services cost to provide.

At a series of workshops this spring, council members decided to raise many fees to 100% of what the consulting firm determined to be the true cost, based on labor and other factors.

Councilman Harry Dotson said he wants to give the chamber a chance to discuss the fees before the council passes an ordinance calling for an increase.

“It just seems to me that we don’t need to rap (local businesses) again,” he said.

But City Manager Terry Matz argued that the council needs to decide soon to increase the fees, in order to raise a projected $400,000 for the budget due in July. “Without this, we’re left with a deficit,” he warned.

Dotson said the hike was “liable to force business out of the community.” He, Sapien and Councilman William C. Estrada want to postpone the fee hikes.