Public Hearing on Albany Fees and Fines

Some Albany fees and fines would go up under proposed increases in the city's Master Fee Schedule to be considered by the City Council Monday night.

The council's look at the new fees will include a public hearing.

The proposed fee schedule runs for 39 pages and includes a variety of construction, permit and license fees, as well as the fines for violating city laws and parking regulations. 

Some fees will remain the same as they are in the current fee schedule, while others would go up by modest amounts. The fine for exceeding the parking time limit, for example, would rise to $44 from the current $43. The financial penalty for firing a gun in public would increase by $8 to $306, and failure to clean up your dog's poop could cost you $119, up from the current $116.

A permit for chickens or rabbits would remain at $169, as would the $200 cost of applying to remove a tree in the city right-of-way. Likewise, the permit for operating a Christmas tree or pumpkin lot would hold steady at $352.

The staff report on the item says council policy calls for annual review of the fees and increasing them in line with city costs, which are reflected in the annual change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The CPI for San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose area increased 2.7 percent over the prior year, the report said.

The council meeting, which includes a number of items in addition to the Master Fee Schedule, begins at 7:30 p.m. in the council chambers.

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