Fee Increase

Three Westminster food service owners hope to organize a meeting with the Carroll County Commissioners to protest the way the commissioners quietly doubled the county's annual restaurant license fees for 1993.The three owners are soliciting interest from other owners of food shops and restaurants for the proposed meeting."I just think the people affected by these changes should be made aware before the changes are made," said Robert Lowry, owner of Cockey's Tavern. He said he does not oppose the fee increase if county officials would justify it.Kay D'Eugenio, co-owner with her husband of the La Strada Italian grocery and deli, said her concerns are "the amount of the increase and us not being able to defend ourselves before" it was adopted.

Maryland's in-state undergraduates will pay a few hundred dollars more per semester this fall under a new tuition-and-fee plan approved Wednesday by the university system's Board of Regents. Out-of-state students will be hit a little harder, paying as much as $1,060 more, for example, at the University of Maryland, College Park. The plan marks the fourth year that tuition for resident undergraduates at most Maryland schools has gone up 3 percent — an increase characterized by university system officials as moderate and lower than many states.

Parents may soon be paying more for high school summer courses because the Harford County Board of Education is considering a fee increase. Harford County Superintendent Jacqueline C. Haas recommended a $60 increase, which would raise the full credit course fee to $510, citing a shortfall from the last summer session. Students who are trying to recover a course credit would pay a reduced fee of $335 -- or a $30 increase. About 400 of nearly 12,000 high school students attend summer school, held at the Center for Educational Opportunity in Aberdeen.

Your recent editorial on stormwater fees made me burst out laughing with tears streaming from my eyes - hopefully, liquid that will not one day to be considered taxable run-off ("The rain tax sham," April 18). You opine that "we think it's far more sensible to expect polluters to clean up after themselves - and in this case, that means all of us. " In response to that statement, I couldn't help but think of the Sunday morning televangelist shouting at us "repent, you nasty polluters, repent!"

A proposed 50 percent increase in University of Maryland parking fees that is bitterly opposed by service and clerical workers took a big step closer to final approval yesterday. The finance committee of the university system's Board of Regents voted to recommend that the full board approve the fee increase for the College Park campus when it meets July 10. University officials say the extra money is needed to pay for new parking garages. The fee increase -- from $220 a year to $330 for faculty and staff -- would take effect Nov. 1. Fees for students who reside on campus also would be raised, from $191 to $287.

RAISING IMPACT fees for home construction is a prudent and timely action by Carroll County's lame-duck commissioners. The moderate fee increases are needed, and the action may protect the new board from having to handle this political hot potato.The fee increases, the first in three years, range from 6 to 8 percent for all but mobile homes. For a single-family home, the increase will be $257, rising to $4,744 -- nowhere near enough to fulfill the dire warnings of the homebuilder industry.

Impact fees on new construction in Anne Arundel County should be significantly increased, though more slowly and by less than sought by County Executive John R. Leopold, according to a new report by an independent panel. The group, formed by the County Council after it balked at Leopold's proposal, questioned the assumption of a consultant hired by his administration that the county has no further room on its roads or in its schools. It found that the county services are at 80 percent capacity.

Under a plan worked out between lawmakers and the Schaefer administration to keep the state from losing federal highway funds, the General Assembly will decide at a special session later this month whether drivers should pay more for licenses, titles, tags and other services.House Speaker R. Clayton Mitchell Jr., D-Eastern Shore, the last key legislative opponent of the fee increase, agreed yesterday to support a measure that would produce $40 million in new revenues.The Maryland Department of Transportation says it needs that much in matching funds -- at least temporarily -- to secure another $312 million in federal highway money.

THINK OF IT as an insurance policy. The extra $8 you pay on your vehicle registration buys one of the nation's best statewide emergency medical systems in case you, a loved one or a friend is badly injured in an accident. That insurance policy, though, is about to lapse. The money raised from this surcharge on Maryland cars and trucks - about $36 million -isn't enough any longer to support a comprehensive emergency medical services network. Unless the General Assembly finds additional funds, there will be a 15-percent cutback in the statewide EMS system, which includes everything from MedEvac helicopters, paramedics, fire and rescue equipment and the renowned Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore.

The basic cost of a new home in Anne Arundel County could increase if County Council members vote to bump up fees paid by homebuilders. After a year of study and intense debate, County Executive Janet S. Owens said yesterday that she would introduce legislation to increase development impact fees by 50 percent at a council meeting Nov. 19. The proposed increase in impact fees, recommended to Owens by a panel of builders, residents and business owners,...

The Orioles and Nationals are awaiting a decision on how much more money Washington will receive in annual rights fees from the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, which televises both teams' games. The decision from a Major League Baseball committee could come as soon as the next few weeks, according to an official familiar with the process. The Nationals receive at least $29 million per year from MASN, said the official, who declined to be identified while the decision is pending.

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources is suggesting lesser increases in boat registration than was proposed last month in the General Assembly. Under the department's amendment, registration every two years would cost: $25 for boats under 16 feet; $50 for boats under 21 feet; $75 for boats under 32 feet; $100 for boats under 45 feet; $200 for boats up to 65 feet; and $300 for boats more than 65 feet long. The new fee levels would start in 2013. Boat registration, regardless of vessel size, currently costs $24 every two years.

An outcry of protests by some Maryland hunters upset about the substantial fee increase for yearly licenses has led to the Department of Natural Resources restructuring the proposal being considered by lawmakers. According to Paul Peditto, the DNR's director of Wildlife and Heritage Services, the increase has been scaled back in a way to make it more "family friendly" and to encourage junior hunters to get their licenses. Under the initial increase that is part of House Bill 1419, state residents would have had the cost of their annual licenses increase from $24.50, plus separate stamps for bowhunting and muzzloading privileges, to as much as $95 for a consolidated license.

If you hold a gathering of more than 50 boats in Maryland waters after June 1, you can expect to pay a "marine gathering permit fee" — the amount yet to be determined — under legislation proposed by the O'Malley administration. Need a certified copy of a marriage certificate? The cost would double from $12 to $24 under an administration proposal. Own a commercial scale with a capacity of more than a ton? The fee for registering it would increase from $75 to $100 under a bill submitted by the state Department of Agriculture.

In the past few months, life has gotten a lot busier for Anne Arundel County Councilman Derek Fink. As he was tasked with considering dozens of land rezoning applications in his Pasadena district, the Republican legislator opened a new restaurant, where he logs long hours as the general manger. As he approached his second year on the council, his colleagues selected him to serve as chairman. And come the end of March, he'll be a first-time dad.

With the Chesapeake Bay cleanup at a critical juncture, Gov. Martin O'Malley is calling on Marylanders to double down on their contribution to the effort, proposing to raise the "flush fee" every household pays from $2.50 to $5 a month, on average. Without the increase, administration officials warn, they face a $385 million shortfall starting this year in the funds needed to upgrade pollution controls at the state's biggest sewage treatment plants — most notably Baltimore's century-old Back River facility, the largest in Maryland.

Conservatives bent on ditching Newt crave a leader with passion and political smarts. The name that leaps to mind is Newt's.Folks who disbelieved the first IRA cease-fire cannot be expected to trust the second.When Megabank merges with Superbank, the result will be a fee increase at an ATM near you.The Os are a great team. They can win anywhere but Camden Yards.Pub Date: 7/23/97

Those nasty Denver boots have proved quite effective in the war on unpaid parking tickets. They immobilize hundreds of cars across Baltimore while provoking understandable rage, frustration and outbursts that can't be printed in a family newspaper. City transportation officials now want to quadruple the fee to remove the hulking orange boot, from a reasonable $24 to the princely sum of $100. The reason for the increase, city officials say, is to better serve motorists. You heard that right.

A state task force called Tuesday for tripling the "flush fee" Maryland homeowners pay as a way to help finance an accelerated cleanup of the Chesapeake Bay. The 28-member task force, appointed by Gov. Martin O'Malley to tackle sewage and growth issues, voted overwhelmingly to recommend that the $2.50 monthly bay restoration fee be doubled next year and increased to $7.50 a month by 2015. The fee is levied on water and sewer bills for utility customers, and on property tax bills for homeowners on septic systems.

The Annapolis city council approved Monday a $90 million operating budget for the next fiscal year, a spending plan that raises the city's property tax rate and increases a variety of fees for city services. The council approved Mayor Joshua J. Cohen's proposed budget by a 7-2 vote, city officials said. The city's $9.1 million capital budget was approved unanimously. The budget for fiscal year 2012 is the result of an agreement reached last month by a majority of the council.