New fees, fines ‘enhance’ proposed Denver budget
By Tillie Fong 
| September 16, 2009 | 7:01 AM
Nonresidents of Denver may want to drive carefully within the city limits next year: If you’re hurt in an accident on a state highway, your wallet may take an extra hit, too.
Under the city’s proposed budget for 2010, the Denver Fire Department would charge you a fee for emergency care if they have to treat you on-scene and you were found to be at fault for the accident.
“In this economic crunch, everyone is scrambling for funds to keep the service going,” Joe Hart, spokesman for Denver Fire, said.
This fee for nonresidents is among several “revenue enhancements” listed in the budget proposal that Mayor John Hickenlooper presented to the City Council on Tuesday.
The “enhancements”–mainly new charges or increased fees–would bring in $21 million to the cash-strapped city, which is facing a $120 million budget shortfall next year thanks to declining sales-tax revenues.
Denver’s deficit, however, is actually closer to $160 million, according to Claude Pumilia, the city’s chief financial officer. To limit the shortfall, the city is using $40 million from its reserve funds, drawing down the reserve from 15 percent of its fund balance to 11.5 percent, leaving only $130 million.
Any further use of reserve funds could jeopardize Denver’s credit rating. Hickenlooper noted Tuesday that several cities went bankrupt in the 1970s and 1980s by using up their reserve funds.
The bulk of the $120 million budget shortfall for 2010 will come from “efficiencies and savings” ($75.7 million) and personnel savings ($23.3 million). That includes laying off 176 nonsafety personnel and having five furlough days for employees.
Denver also tried to find ways to generate revenue. The way to do that was to adjust fees and fines rather than raise taxes, Pumilia said. In many cases, the fees and fines do not cover the city’s cost to provide the services.
For example, the city hopes to bring in $1.96 million by increasing the sales and lodger’s tax registration fee and imposing a new occupational privilege tax registration fee–about $25 a year–just to cover the cost of collecting those taxes.
Higher fines, more fees
Other revenue generators in the proposed budget include increased fines for vehicle registration violations, which would bring in $1 million a year, and increased Failure to Appear fees, which, combined with a new Failure to Pay fee, would bring in $577,000 to the city’s coffers in 2010.
Denver expects to get another $1 million from increased auction revenues due to changes to the city code that involve the “No Valid Driver’s License” violation.
The operation of four recreation centers will be “transitioned” to nonprofit groups by the end of this year, saving the city a little over $1 million. Denver Parks and Recreation also plans to raise its fees.
“We are proposing fee increases to bring our fees more in line with the CPI (Consumer Price Index), which is currently at 4.51 percent,” said Jill McGranahan, spokeswoman for the parks department. ”Rather than taking them piecemeal, we’re raising them across the board.”
That would mean a 4.51 percent increase on all permit fees, rentals of event facilities and picnic sites, recreation center fees and program fees.
“Our task force and recreation board had recommended a 30 percent increase,” McGranahan said of the event facilities fees. “We’re at 18 to 22 percent, so we’re not exorbitant compared to other event facilities.”
The fee increase would bring in $220,000 to the city.
The mayor’s budget also includes a Web search fee for getting information on case history on the county court’s Web site. It would generate $1.15 million a year.
No fee for trash pickup
One proposed new charge to residents — a $10-a-month fee for trash pickup — wasn’t in the plan. The trash fee, which could have generated $20 million a year for Denver, was listed on a citizen survey on city budget priorities. Many residents were resistant to the idea.
“We decided that a trash fee at this time would not be appropriate,” Pumilia said.
Residents shot down another proposed fee on the citizen survey: charging $50 for false fire alarms, which would have brought in $500,000.
The plan to charge nonresidents a fee for emergency care after an accident on a state highway was recommended by two consulting firms that looked at how Denver Fire could meet its budget limitations, Hart said.
“Right now, we do not charge,” he said. “If we pull someone out of a car, put him on a backboard and administer emergency care at the scene, we do not charge anything.”
However, if an ambulance is called to the scene at the same time that Denver Fire is and if the paramedics treat the accident victim, the ambulance service would bill the patient. The proposed new fee would work similarly.
“My understanding is that we would hand a bill to the people involved in the accident, and they would turn it over to their insurance company, which would pay the city,” he said.
Hart noted that only non-Denver residents would be charged. He also added that the “state highway” designation includes Federal Boulevard, Sheridan Boulevard, Colorado Boulevard and Colfax Avenue.
“A lot of accidents happen on those highways,” he said.
The details on how much the fee would be are still being worked out. For that matter, the proposal may not even appear in the final budget.
“That has yet to be decided,” Rex King, deputy fire chief, said Tuesday. “We are still working on a budget plan and we will be meeting with the city tomorrow (Wednesday). The budget will be presented to the City Council on the 30th of September.”
deficit, denver budget, denver fire department, fees, fines, mayor john hickenlooper
