HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 06 Correspondence from Food for Lane County Regarding Banner FeesM E M O R A N D U M City of Springfield, Oregon
To: Gino Grimaldi, City Manager
From: Len Goodwin, Assistant Public Works Director
Ken Vogeney, City Engineer
Date: January 27, 2012
Subject: Banner Permit Fees - Staff Response to Correspondence
The City received a letter earlier this month from Food for Lane County expressing concern over the
City’s increased fees for hanging banners over Main Street and Mohawk Boulevard. In addition to the
attached letter, the Council has also heard comments concerning these fees during Business from the
Audience on September 19 and October 17, 2011, and staff has received numerous comments from the
applicants who typically request banner permits. In all cases, the commenters objected to the increased
fees. You may wish to share this staff response with the City Council.
On May 2, 2011, the Council approved the current fees for a permit to hang a banner across either Main
Street or Mohawk Boulevard as part of the staff proposed fee schedule changes, City Council Resolution
No. 11-11, as follows:
Permit Fee: $300.00 per permit
Security Deposit: $150.00
Subtotal: $450.00
5% Technology Fee: $ 22.50
Total Fees: $472.50
The previous fee for these permits was $100 per permit plus a $100 security deposit, although it appears
that the security deposit was typically not collected.
Staff proposed the increased fees to Council as a means of improving cost recovery for this permit
activity. A typical banner installation involves 2 staff people and the City’s boom truck for an average of
one hour to install and another hour to remove a banner, for a total direct installation cost of about $300.
In addition, staff spends an average of 2 hours per banner administering the Banner Permit program.
The City only allows other public agencies and non-profit agencies to have banners in the public right-of-
way, and the banners advertise community events and services that benefit the citizens of Springfield.
Staff suggests that the benefits garnered by the City by supporting these events and services offset a
portion of the City’s cost to provide the banner installation. Accordingly, staff recommends that the
increased fees not be collected from the current permit applicants, and that the fee be restored to its
previous amount during the Council’s action on the new fee schedule they will consider during their FY
2013 budget adoption process.