Peabody council increases license fees

PEABODY – City Council voted Thursday night to increase several license fees for the first time since 1992.City Clerk Tim Spanos proposed the increase because of the rising costs in inspectional services by various city departments, fuel, manpower, and recent changes in fee schedules under the Massachusetts General Laws.The proposed changes would cause some license fees to increase by fifty percent and others to double, providing more revenue for the city.Chuck Holden, owner of Holden Oil, Inc., 91 Lynnfield St., Peabody, spoke out against the rising fees of particular concern to him: inflammable licenses. He explained that each year, he has to obtain several licenses and permits in order to run his business, and they’re not free. Holden stated that he spends thousands of dollars on fees and permits alone.”It’s not a huge increase,” said Holden. “But it’s another fee on top of a whole myriad of fees.”After hearing Holden’s concerns, Councilor-at-Large Dave Gravel asked the interesting question of how the proposed increases were derived. Spanos replied, saying that his increments were based on previous methods, as well as what is permitted by the State.Ward 1 Councilor Barry Osborne had a problem with Spanos’ request. He believed most changes to be “pretty reasonable,” except for those surrounding inflammable licenses.The current fees for inflammable licenses range from $50-$800. Spanos proposed increases would bring that range up to $150-$900, numbers that Osborne believes to be far too high. He motioned the Council to maintain the current fees for all inflammable licenses pertaining to tanks in the 10,001-gallon to one million-gallon range; however, tanks holding one gallon to 10,000 gallons would increase from $50 to $100.He also motioned to approve all other increases, including the licenses for auctioneers, fortune tellers, junk dealers, coffee houses, bowling alleys, motor vehicles, entertainment, pool and billiard facilities, inn holders, and transient vendors.The Council unanimously voted in favor of Osborne’s motion.For a complete list of fee changes, contact the City Clerk’s Office.