Budget shortfall leads to higher garage sale fees

One councilman said the city should go after people who don't get the permits.
By ERIC GROSSO
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
NEWTON FALLS -- City council is looking for ways to overcome a $140,000 deficit in this year's budget after a proposed income tax increase failed in May.
Council members voted 3-2 for an ordinance to increase the permit cost for residents holding a garage sale as a way to cut into the red ink. They gave first reading to the ordinance at their Monday meeting.
Starting Jan. 1, residents who want to obtain a permit for a garage sale will be charged a nonrefundable $10 fee, instead of the current $5 refundable fee.
The new fee is expected to raise about $2,000 per year. Residents usually hold about 200 to 250 garage sales per year in the city, said Finance Director Marcia Cunningham.
Council member Catie Karl-Moran said the fees were raised because city workers had to spend time handing out the permits and police officers took down garage sale signs. The city had no way of covering the time spent by city employees for those tasks.
Increase vs. enforcement
The two dissenting votes were cast by council members Phil Beer and Eric Thompson. Thompson said the city should look into enforcing current laws against those who do not obtain a permit rather than charge more for those who do obtain one.
"We shouldn't charge those people who are following the rules. You're punishing those who do it correctly," Thompson said.
Those who do not obtain a permit and hold a garage sale are subject to a $100 fine. Thompson said he wishes that law was more strictly enforced.
Beer wanted council to look at a compromise between a fee adjustment and stricter enforcement.
Cunningham said the city is planning on giving police lists of those who have obtained a permit every week, so they know who does and does not have a permit.
Residents can have two garage sales a year under the new ordinance and must display the permit on the site of the sale. Owners who violate sections of the ordinance will have to pay another nonrefundable $10 for their second sale.
Council will give the ordinance a second reading at its next session at 6 p.m. Aug. 7.