North Bend imposes fire fees

Published 4:06 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008

In a split 3-2 vote, the North Bend City Council imposed revised fire impact fees.

The fees apply to new construction. The city hired a consultant to determine the cost of service of each type of new building to develop a fee, usually determined on a square-footage basis by type of use. Last October, council members expressed concerns that the full rate would too greatly burden some types of businesses.

The North Bend Public Safety Committee reviewed the proposal and recommended reducing the fees that would be assessed on four categories of land use: nursing homes, medical and dental businesses, leisure activities and restaurants. Restaurants received the biggest break, dropping from $6.09 per square foot in the original proposal to $1 per square foot.

The fees were reduced in those cases to spur economic development, while still allowing the city to recoup some of the costs of increasing services.

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