If you have moved into, out of or within the city of Bethlehem without paying five bucks for a moving permit, you’re not alone.
But now the city plans to increase that permit fee to $20 — and both members of Bethlehem City Council and the administration agree such a fee needs to be enforced if the city is going to have it at all.
The administration plans to determine the best ways to ensure effective enforcement.
“I had no idea that there was a moving fee,” said council member Adam Waldron. “I didn’t apply, didn’t pay for it. I would challenge if anyone else on council did.”
Waldron said the first offense penalty for not applying for a moving permit is $100 or 30 days imprisonment or both, adding that seems like a steep penalty for an ordinance that is not enforced at all.
“Why have an ordinance if it’s not enforced?” asked Waldron. “Why have fines and penalties?”
“It should be a fee that we enforce religiously,” said city business administrator David Brong.
“There are a lot of reasons to make sure that we do this well. It is something we should get serious about.”
Raising the moving permit to $20 was just one of many revenue-generating fee increases discussed by City Council Monday night, when it met for nearly three hours for the fourth public hearing on the proposed 2015 budget.
No more than a half dozen city residents attended Monday’s hearing on that budget, which will raise city property taxes by 6.2 percent.
The city has been losing an unknown amount of revenue for years because it has not developed any mechanism to make sure people get moving permits.
Brong said it is just one example of areas where the city could enforce more “robustly” and added Bethlehem intends to do just that.
“We don’t do it well today,” admitted Brong. “We need to do it well.” He advised council: “I think you need to give us an opportunity to do it well.”
“But we don’t really have any way to enforce it, right?” asked City Council president J. William Reynolds.
“We have gotten considerably better at recognizing those things that should have happened and perhaps didn’t and make sure that they do, even after the fact,” said Brong.
Reynolds called the moving permit fee voluntary. “It seems like one of those things that is very tough for us to collect on a practical level.”
He indicated the cost for the city to take someone to court for not paying the fee would exceed the amount of money the city would receive in fines or permit fees.
“Moving permits are required for anybody who is going to move materials from one premises to another — either inside the city or moving into or out of the city,” said Brong.
He added those who get moving permits have “no parking” signs put up by police, giving them free parking so they can move their goods.
Requiring moving permits to keep track of people and businesses moving in and out of Bethlehem “is very important to our ability to tax,” stressed Brong.
He said moving permits also ensure that commercial enterprises moving into Bethlehem have required business privilege licenses and certificates of occupancy.
Brong explained the city does have clues that could be followed, such as when an apartment is advertised for rent or a house has been sold, but no moving permits have been issued. Another clue is when someone shows up in City Hall to open a new water/sewer account.
Asked Reynolds: “So we can say ‘you owe us $5, you didn’t pay us when you moved?’”
“You could,” said Brong. “You can assess that after the fact.”
City Council was told 227 people paid the $5 moving permit fee this year and that a total of 275 paid it in 2013.
Brong agreed with council members that far more than 275 households moved in Bethlehem last year.
Council also was told that moving permits were established to deter thieves from going into people’s homes and loading their belongings onto a truck. The deterrent is that police could be called and demand to see a permit.
Brong said he’s not sure if the city ever enforced the ordinance, such as by “canvassing the city to look for U-Hauls that either do or don’t have a moving permit. I would’t advocate taking our public safety or code enforcement people to drive around and do that.”
“How are folks made aware that this permit fee exists?” asked council member Cathy Reuscher. “Is it possible that people are just not aware?”
Brong acknowledged that is a big part of the problem. He proposed starting with property owners and landlords, telling them “outgoing and incoming tenants are obligated to get a moving permit. It’s a good place to start, but we haven’t done it.”
He also said the water department does not ask people if they got a moving permit when they ask for water service, “but it could, very easily.”
“It is a fair increase,” said new council member Louis Stellato, who noted the fee has been $5 since 1990.
What happens next?
The final 2015 budget meeting, which includes numerous increases in fees and taxes, is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday in Town Hall.
At that meeting, the seven members of council will be able to make amendments to the budget. Additions will require a 5-2 vote. Deletions will require a 4-3 vote.
A final vote to adopt the $71.3-million budget, including any last-minute amendments, will be taken during council’s Dec. 16 meeting.
Brong said the city had been facing a $7 million deficit for 2015, but more than $5 million has been “accommodated” through expense reductions. The remaining $1.9 million will come from proposed increases in city taxes and fees.
“The minority of what we propose here is being asked of our community,” said Brong in his introductory remarks on the budget Monday.
The proposed 6.2 percent real estate tax increase will raise taxes by about $50 a year for the average homeowner, said Mark Sivak, Bethlehem’s budget & finance director.
Brong said deficits in the city’s 911 fund are responsible for more than two-thirds of that impending tax increase.
He said the proposed city budget has seven fewer full-time city employees. “We’re proposing the smallest workforce in the city’s history.”
Two of those seven full-time positions being eliminated are in the city administration, two are in the fire department, and one is in each of the following areas: economic development, EMS and parks.
Some event vendors will pay higher fee
Another proposed budget change will raise the annual fee for event vendors from $101 to $176.
Brong said that $101 bought vendors year-long licenses to participate in as many events as they wanted.
“These folks were getting away pretty cheaply in the past,” he said.
He said the amount vendors pay per event is not changing, but many vendors pay the year-long fee because they participate in many events in the city.
He noted that fee pays for on-site inspections of vendors by the city.
Council member Bryan Callahan expressed concern about that $75 increase, saying vendors already are getting hit “pretty hard” with fees from the festivals “and a lot of them are just mom-and-pop vendors selling little knickknacks and things like that.”
Callahan said the amount of that increase is “a big jump” compared to other fee increases being proposed.
Amusement tax proposal
Council did not discuss the controversial proposed tax increase on event ticket sales Monday night, but resident Bruce Haines proposed an alternative.
He suggested that amusement tax increase be imposed only on tickets costing $40 or more “and don’t cap it at all.”
Haines said tickets for events held by smaller non-profit organizations usually cost less than $40.
The Hotel Bethlehem co-owner said people willing to pay $100 to see an entertainer are the ones who should be taxed. “It should almost be a luxury amusement tax, as opposed to an amusement tax that really hits the low-dollar performances.”
Haines admitted he did not know how his proposal would “play out” regarding revenue from the tax.
The city anticipates getting $420,000 from that two-year-old amusement tax this year.
The current tax is $1.50 on any event ticket costing more than $10. The administration proposed raising that to $2.50 for 2015, but council is proposing raising it to $2.
Other proposed fee increases
A number of recreation fees are being raised for the first time in four years, said Bethlehem parks director Ralph Carp. “All of our costs have increased.”
He gave several examples of those increases, including:
• Season passes for swimming will go from $45 to $50 for youth, $55 to $60 for adults who are residents. Non-residential passes are increasing by $10.
• Daily swimming rates will go from $4 to $4.50 for youth, and from $4.50 to $5.50 for adults.
• Pavilion rentals are going from $65 to $75 on weekdays, from $75 to $100 on weekends. For non-residents, the fees are going from $90 to $100 on weekdays and from $100 to $150 on weekends.
• Renting the Ice House is increasing from $200 to $300 a day for non-profits.
Brong also reviewed several other fees that are increasing, including:
• The fee to review a minor plan will increase from $100 to $125, for example, and the cost for a major plan review will increase from $100 to $250.
• The police department is asking that $10 document fees be increased to $15 for people requesting fingerprints, record checks or accident information for insurance companies.
• Tax certification fees will increase from $20 to $30, which Brong said is “well within the going rate for a city our size.”
Parking meters
Callahan said members of the Bethlehem Parking Authority are talking about raising parking meter rates, so the authority can continue to contribute $500,000 a year to the city budget.
But Mayor Robert Donchez said there have been no discussions about raising parking meter rates, only about possibly raising parking fines and rates for surface lots and city garages.
The city gets monthly payments from the parking authority, said Brong, who added “we’re looking good” to collect the full $500,000 this year.
“We’ve received a little over $400,000 at this point,” said Sivak.
Mayor buys his own gasoline
It’s already known that the mayor uses his own car for city business, but on Monday night Donchez said he also pays for his own gasoline.
He said there was no need to have a line item in the budget to reimburse him for gas.
Said Callahan: “Mayor, I really appreciate your frugalness and I appreciate you wanting to cut costs, but you’re already driving your own vehicle, which is a savings to the city.
“I really don’t think you have to be spending money out of your own pocket for gas. I don’t think it’s fair to you.”
Responded Donchez: “You will never get a gas bill from me. Thank you.”
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