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Vote On Tree Fees Is Planned Today

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By CHRISTIAN M. WADE

cwade@tampatrib.com

Published: February 5, 2009

TAMPA - The city council is expected to vote today on a proposal to lower fees for tree pruning and removal less than four months after approving an eightfold increase.

The current rates were part of a package of increases for residential and commercial building permits that the council signed off on in October. The changes were aimed at allowing the construction services division to become more self-sufficient. Roughly 65 percent of the building department's $12 million budget is funded by property taxes.

Starting Jan. 1, permit fees for trimming a "grand tree" - or live oaks that measure 34 inches or more in diameter - increased from $35 for three trees to $286 for each tree.

The increases ignited an outcry from arborists and tree companies who argued that they would hurt elderly and working-class families that have dangerous trees in their yards.

Cynthia Miller, director of the growth management department, blamed a consultant hired by the city to evaluate permit fees, saying the city may have been given inaccurate information. Council members said they didn't scrutinize every item in the package of increases. And Mayor Pam Iorio demanded that the fees be reduced immediately.

The revised fees would reduce the cost of removing a hazardous tree to $128 and to $99 for pruning. Next year, however, those fees will increase to $150 and $116, respectively.

Fees for removing grand trees not considered a hazard would remain $514 each.

The council meets at 9 a.m. today at Old City Hall on 315 E. Kennedy Blvd.

Reporter Christian M. Wade can be reached at (813) 259-7679

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