Health Division fees for stores and restaurants will increase by 20 percent in 2013 and for the first time liquor store owners will pay a $200 fee, among changes in an ordinance up for first reading Monday.
The fee schedule covers 44 categories, ranging from dog and cat licenses to tattoo parlors. Most Vital Statistics items, such as birth, marriage and death certificates, will stay the same, though fees for extra copies or corrections will double.
Special event food licenses will increase by 68 percent, to $55 per day. Other "food-related business fees," including those for mobile food trucks and pushcarts, church and school kitchens, newsstands, pharmacies and day care centers will come under the 20 percent increase. Vending machine fees will go from $32.50 per machine to $54.60 annually.
All these changes are under the somewhat inscrutable title for Ordinance MC 2012-25, "An ordinance to amend and supplement Chapter 1,Article 1, General Provision, Section 1:1-15, authorizing charges for copies of public records and fees and for other services of the Municipal Code of the City of Plainfield NJ, 1971" submitted by the Department of Administration & Finance. This is why some of us bloggers trek to the Plainfield Public Library on Saturdays before City Council meetings to look at the background documents for proposed legislation.
In 2010, a set of proposed Health Division fee increases caused a furor and had to be amended before passage. A fee for laundromats, along with a $20 fee per machine, was eliminated and extreme increases in other fees were modified after Plaintalker detailed the the changes. Council members heeded the concerns of business owners and residents in passing a revised schedule.
Some of the revisions for 2013 were approved in 2010 and took effect in 2011. The schedule up for council consideration Monday covers 2013 and 2014.
Plaintalker's point in calling attention to these changes is that one can't tell by the title alone what some of the proposed legislation is really all about. The same applies to three other proposed ordinances that may affect entrepreneurs and organizations that put on outdoor events.
The public always has a chance to speak on ordinances at public hearings before final passage. But not many citizens are able to take the time to research and analyze the fine print in background documents in order to make informed comments. In between posting pictures of our cats and gardens, that's where bloggers come in!
Monday's regular City Council meeting was rescheduled from Nov. 19 due to the storm emergency. It is 8 p.m. in Municipal Court, 325 Watchung Ave. Speakers may comment on any resolution or ordinance before the council votes, and may comment at the end of the meeting on any topic of concern.
--Bernice
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"But not many citizens are able to take the time to research and analyze the fine print in background documents in order to make informed comments."
ReplyDeleteInclude the Administration and City Council in that critique too.
Without question there should be user fees for establishments that are required by law to be inspected by the health department. But these fees should not be windfall revenue sources for the City - they should help to offset the costs of the department and annual increases should be within reason. Twenty percent and sixty eight percent are not within reason.
ReplyDeleteCharging a liquor store that only sells packaged items, a Health Department fee is a TAX - the same is true with vending machines that sell package items, (whether you care to have these establishments or not). We in New Jersey must learn to stop overtaxing our businesses. Each year I receive NEW creative tax bills from the state on my business. Recently I received a bill from the state for excess unemployment funds that NJ has borrowed from the Feds - though I have never laid anyone off in 25 years of business. My workers comp insurance is over the top - though I have never had a claim. My income declines yearly but my taxes increase - it is not sustainable - it is time for our government to streamline and to start cutting. . . .
If the Health Department cannot control their costs then close them down and outsource the function - much like Garwood does, and Cranford does, and Kenilworth does, and Mountainside does. . . .
If our City needs to increase it's revenue sources then lets concentrate on cleaning up our act and attracting new business - start with the crime problem, including the petty crimes that stifle our quality of life; littering, speeding, not yielding to pedestrians. Paint the damn cross-walks! replace the missing light bulbs - enforce the codes that are already on the books. . . Wow, can you imagine. And get our police officers out of their cars, out of the parking lots, and onto the streets - IT IS TIME TO CONSIDER REINSTATING THE POLICE CHIEF POSITION as there is NO respect amongst the ranks any longer.
Let's concentrate on the issues that continually plague our City, and plague our reputation, and the business WILL come as we are a PRIME location for redevelopment.
Jim Spear
The Health Division is now without a Health Department Officer and while raising fees is part of the raising cost of living, what can the city say about the services business and residents are provided with when it comes to the Health Division? An easy task right now would be asking who inspected local restaurants and stores before they re-opened after the storm. Hopefully the council will do the right thing and ask to be provided with background information that justifies raising of any fees.
ReplyDeleteJim Spear makes important comments. One thing should be noted is that the reason for the large increase in the health department fees is because the city went about 20 years doing nothing. As Jim Spear stated, enforce what you have and pay attention to the city.
ReplyDeleteOn a different topic as it relates to business, be aware that NJ was the 4th friendlies state in which to do business in the early 1990's. The legislative branch was Republican. Once the Democrats took over, we are now number 50 - and since the Democrats took over, we now have the highest property taxes in the land. Jerry Green is part of the Assembly that voted over 115 times to raise taxes and fees. Go NJ Democrats!!
For those Democrats who are appalled about the millionaires tax not being reinstated, know that the Democrats have their eye on raising the gas tax also - which I believe affects non-millionaires also.
So for all the Democrats who go straight down the D line, this is what you get.
Jim Spear, you were not around when the Police Chief was in power. Police, Admin, Mayor(s) all hated him.
ReplyDelete