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Fees, fines going up in LaGrange Park
Updated: March 15, 2013 11:19AM
LAGRANGE PARK
Fees and fines will be going up Feb. 15 to help ease a revenue crunch and generate another $53,000 to fund LaGrange Park village services.
The Village Board approved increases Jan. 22 in liquor licenses from $600 to $800 for beer and wine and from $5 to $25 for special events.
Tobacco licenses will rise from $50 to $75, and the water turn-on fee will go up from $25 to $50 between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. with another $100 required outside those hours.
Parking tickets will jump from $20 to $30 and compliance warnings will increase from $25 to $40 for such violations as defective vehicle equipment and not wearing a seat belt. The fine to owners for their dogs running loose will go from $25 to $40.
The vehicle license fee will increase from $30 to $35 but won’t take effect until June 1 and is expected to bring in another $32,000 in revenue, said Village Manager Julia Cedillo.
Revenue generated by other fee increases could amount to $845 annually, Cedillo said.
Police Chief Daniel McCollum said the increases in parking and compliance fines could amount to another $20,000 to $25,000 annually, based on the yearly average of $91,000 during the past four years.
The increases were sparked by a Village Board request in July to review fees and fines and determine if the village was covering the cost of providing services. The review noted the most recent increase and offered comparisons with what other municipalities charge.
Other increases may be proposed in the future once a comprehensive review is made of costs associated with building permit fees and zoning variation fees.
“The zoning fee has to cover the cost of work done by the staff, a court reporter, publication in a newspaper, and any legal or engineering review of a request for a zoning variation,” Cedillo said.
In December, the board also identified new fees for consideration, including charging $10 to rent the Village Hall, $5 for processing and returning a recycling bin, $100 for obtaining a Dumpster permit fee, $10 for a health inspection fee and $500 for a fire code variation fee.
