Copperas Cove city council to look at proposed fee increases
By LYNETTE SOWELL
Cove Leader-Press
The Copperas Cove city council is holding a special workshop on Thursday, June 29 at 5 p.m., at the city’s Technology Center, 508 S. 2nd St.
The meeting is open to the public and can also be watched remotely on local Spectrum Channel 10 and streamed on the City of Copperas Cove's YouTube Channel at https://youtube.com/@copperascove6513.
During the workshop, the council will hear a presentation from Ariana Beckman, the city’s Director of Budget, about proposed fee changes for the upcoming fiscal year which begins Oct. 1, 2023.
Among the changes are several proposed increases to fees for city facility rentals, such as the Copperas Cove Civic Center.
Full-day rentals, depending on the day, would have different costs.
The current rental cost is $250 for one day, from 7 a.m. until midnight.
With the new fee schedule, rental on Monday-Thursday would be $400 per day; rentals on Friday or Sunday would be $800; and an all-day rental on Saturday would be $1,000.
To rent the civic center for full weekend, Friday-Sunday, it would amount to $2,000.
The restoration fee would change from a flat fee of $40 to 10 percent of the rental cost.
The current fee of $100 for use of the kitchen would go away.
A proposed new deposit for a civic center event where alcohol is served, would be $600.
For the Ogletree Gap pavilion, there are also proposed fee changes. Monday-Friday rental of the pavilion would be $200, the current fee. However, to rent the facility on a weekend day the cost would be $400.
The city anticipates an additional $12,000 in revenue through these increased and new fees for facility rentals.
There are some fee changes to the use of several of the city’s parks for special events, which will now be assessed a restoration fee. Prior to this, there were no restoration fees for organizations using any of the parks.
“Restoration fees” have been assessed by a number of the parks’ programs for several years, and were instituted back when Joe Brown was the director of parks and rec. The restoration fees began in an effort to take care of maintenance of the parks and other city facilities.
To hold a special event in City Park, the proposed restoration fee is $300; for Ogletree Gap Park, $150; and for South Park, $100.
The proposed new fee for an organized race/run/walk in any of the parks would be $50.
EMS fees have proposed increases of $100 per call for ambulance services, as well as the “no transport fee” in the city and county to be increased by $50 per call plus an additional $5 per mile.
Fire Inspections would go up $25 across the board.
For Animal Control, there are also some notable fee changes.
City licenses for dogs and cats would go up to $5, from $3.
To reclaim a lost pet, the impound fee would go to $30, up from $20. For each additional day the animal is held, the fee would be $10 per day, up from $6.
For aquatics, new fees would be restoration fees added to the cost of swim passes for individuals, families, and senior citizens. To rent one of the city’s pools for a party, the cost would go to $125 from $100.
Golfers would also see some proposed increased fees at the Hills of Cove Golf Course, increases which would bring in an additional $19,000 in revenue during the next fiscal year.
Several of those changes include increase in annual and semiannual green fees for additional dependents and senior spouses. An annual trail fee with cart storage would be an additional $100, a new fee in addition to the annual green fee. A new tournament fee of $500 would be assessed for setup and tear down of the event canopy.
Altogether, the increased fees would bring in an anticipated $627,980 in additional revenue, the bulk coming from the emergency medical services ambulance transport rates of $564,580.
The full list of proposed fee changes can be found at: https://destinyhosted.com/coppedocs/2023/CCSCW/20230629_2021/11687_FY_2023-24_Fee_Schedule_06292023.pdf.