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opportunity to charge the fees as long as they are reasonably necessary and reasonably related to <br />the services that are being provided. <br />Councilmember Davis asked who has the final say in the fees, and Council Attorney Cekanski- <br />Farrand responded that until there is an ordinance, the final authority is unknown. <br />Tasha Reed Outlaw, Legal Department with offices on the 12th floor, explained that the Board of <br />Public Works has the authority to set the fees, however, to move forward in a more transparent <br />manner, they want to ensure that this ordinance moves forward so that everyone is on the same <br />page with respect to the fees that the city extends. <br />Councilmember Davis asked how the Council and the Board of Public Works would work <br />together, and Ms. Reed Outlaw explained that the Board of Public Works would be willing to <br />have that conversation to ensure that everyone is on the same page. If there is something <br />specifically that the Common Council questions or has specific issues with, then the resolution <br />could possibly be amended to make sure that everyone is on the same page. <br />The Committee and Ms. Reed Outlaw discussed when the last fee raise occurred, but there is no <br />history of a fee raise before 2008. Councilmember Davis expressed concern over raising rates of <br />every different service in 2016, and feeing the people of South Bend out of everything because <br />they haven't been raised in many years. He suggested including fee raises in the budget in the <br />future. <br />Chairperson Voorde stated that no one likes to raise fees. <br />Councilmember Karen White, in agreement with Chair Person Voorde, suggested that there be a <br />second meeting prior to the next Council meeting to spend time going over the answers to the <br />questions asked of the Department of Code Enforcement. She believes that a scale would be <br />beneficial for citizens to prepare for fee increases. <br />Mr. Wilkerson stated that these fees impact three (3) to four (4) percent of residents or non- <br />residents. Seventy -five (75) percent of these properties are not home owner occupied. Most of <br />the home -owner properties Code Enforcement has an issue with are resolved before they have to <br />be billed. People are addressing their issues and cleaning up because of the personal contact they <br />have with Code Enforcement. Only the residents who continue to violate will be charged, and <br />they are a very small percentage of our population. <br />Councilmember White asked what has prompted the need for the fees to be increased at this <br />time. <br />Mr. Wilkerson stated that he has improved many policies since he has been director. Since fees <br />were last increased in 2008, salaries have gone up and they've cleaned up a lot of their processes. <br />Councilmember Jo Broden asked for more information from the discussions of the Board of <br />Public Works. If the committee has more knowledge of how the fees are substantiated, they <br />