City of Belleville staff are recommending a middle of the road approach to an increase in user fees.
On Monday, council will receive a report on the 2024 User Fees Study and consider recommendations for implementation.
The study concludes that even after fee increases were enacted throughout 2024, large gaps remain between the current fees and optimal fee levels and suggests significant fee increases in 2025 and 2026 to better align the city with other municipalities and raise cost recovery rates.
In a public survey on the study, 72% of respondents did not consider the proposed fee increases affordable for their household’s budget while 81% stated those fees will influence their decision to use the city’s programs and services.
In addition to the survey responses, the city received numerous phone calls and emails expressing strong concerns about the proposed fee increases
On Monday, staff will present three options, recommending option number two which offers a strong combination of reasonable fee increases while also protecting the affordability, accessibility and competitiveness of the city’s parks, recreation and culture programs and services.
This option would account for an estimated $334,500 in additional revenue in 2025 and $262,900 in additional revenue in 2026.
You can read the staff report and results of the User Fees Study here.
