Menlo Park City Council is considering a proposal to charge local newspapers, such as the Daily Post, a fee for distributing papers in news racks.
If approved on Tuesday, Menlo Park would become the first and only mid-Peninsula city to charge such fees.
The Post would have to pay a fee even though the newspaper is free to readers.
The proposal before council would require newspapers to pay an initial $373 fee for each rack. For a newspaper with 25 racks, that would be a $9,325 hit.
Renewing a permit would cost $233 per year. For 25 racks, that would come to $5,825 a year.
Publishers might try to avoid the annual fee by ending distribution to Menlo Park.
If a newspaper wanted to protest, the cost would be $373. And appealing a city decision over a newsrack would run $373.
It was unclear what the ordinance considers a “protest” or “appeal.”
The news rack proposal hasn’t been the subject of any public hearings or outreach by city employees. It appeared for the first time in a 245-page proposal posted last month that calls for increases in various city fees. The news rack proposal was on page 241 of a report for a March 24 council meeting, but no one at the meeting brought up the fees.
Tuesday night is when the new fee schedule is set to be voted on, making it the last chance for the public and newspaper employees to discuss the proposal.
The report didn’t indicate whether any of the five members of council wanted to hit the newspapers with this new fee. The city employee who wrote the report was Fenny Lei, assistant administrative services director, and the report was reviewed by Brittany Mello, administrative services director.
The city is looking at raising revenues after the state cut the amount of money it gets from vehicle license fees, otherwise known as the car tax. The city hired a consultant, Government Consulting Partners of Granite Bay, Calif., to find ways it could raise revenue. The consultant came up with a list of new fees or increases that would raise $4.3 million in revenue.
Many fees the city charges will increase if the proposal passes. For instance, the proposed ordinance says:
• The Menlo Children’s Center kindergarten camp fee would go from $610 to $671.
• A “Letter of Good Conduct” from police would increase from $30 to $45.
• The annual fee for a towing company would jump from $150 to $190.
• A debris box would cost $248, up from $120.
• Banners on Santa Cruz Avenue would cost $705, up from $480.
• A construction noise ordinance exemption would go from $515 to $1,040.
• A permit for the first 50 feet of a retaining wall would go from $222.59 to $475.04. And the city’s fee for checking the plans for the wall would increase from $210.52 to $415.13.
• The fee for adding a deck would rise from $181.38 to $402.92. And checking the plans for that deck would cost more than the permit, going from $203.41 to $500..
• Remodeling a bathroom? That fee would go from $300.21 to $593.33. And the plan check would be increasing from $178.16 to $350.00.
• If you’re opening a small restaurant, say 1,000 square feet, the city permit would go from $2,819.19 to $4,082.13..
• The fee for opening a 2,500-square-foot day care center would go from $13,565.89 to $16,852.23.
The council meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Tuesday.
I wonder if the Menlo Park City Attorney has reviewed that proposal as a restraint on the First Amendment Right to Free Speech. It sounds very suspect.
This is not a First Amendment issue. It is a most foolish and counterproductive attempt to place a burden upon the newspapers that inform us that are already struggling to survive.
Has a consultant been hired to identify the employee positions that can be cut without harming the delivery of needed services to the community?
It is most certainly a first amendment issue when the city is taxing for revenue raising purposes and presumptively unconstitutional.
I think Menlo Park should implement a breathing tax and bowel cleaning tax.
Again, a governmental agency who chooses to increase or create new “fees” rather than do a deep dive into wasteful spending, Voters – think when you vote!
There’s a fee for everything these days, and this is unfair to the newspaper business, especially sense the paper is “free.” It doesn’t make any sense.
How about a bicycle and shoe tax to take care of the automotive tax? They use roads too.
A baby stroller tax too as well as a dog leash tax. Let’s not forget skateboards and scooters. Might also add furniture dollies and tricycles.