700 fee changes proposed

Crossing Lake Powell, shooting small animals by out-of-state visitors and testing for dozens of communicable diseases will all start costing a little bit more this summer.

There are almost 700 fee changes and new fees contained in the proposed fiscal year 2007 state budget, all of which will take effect July 1. Combined, the new fees will bring in almost $2.5 million in new revenue.

Unlike previous years, there is little concern about the proposed fees. With the exception of 32 changes to professional license fees proposed by the Commerce and Revenue Appropriations Subcommittee — which were primarily the victim of politics — all of the fees were approved by the Executive Appropriations Committee.

"There isn't anything that jumps out at me," House Speaker Greg Curtis, R-Sandy, said about the proposed fee increases. The House Republican leadership voted against the Commerce and Revenue proposals "out of frustration" with larger budget negotiations, not any specific concerns.

Most of the fee changes that impact the general public are small, meant to cover the costs of doing business with the government. Those include things like a $10 increase for inspecting fire suppression systems, a $5 increase for paramedic licensing, or a $10 increase for veterinary inspections of sheep before an auction.

The most notable may be a new $5 fee for foot passengers on the Lake Powell ferry and $10 for motorcycles and cars. Rep. Dave Ure, R-Kamas, the co-chairman of the Transportation and Environmental Quality Appropriations Subcommittee, which proposed the fee, said it was intended to help cover the ferry's costs.

"We want it to become self-sufficient," Ure said. "We don't want the state to need to subsidize it."

There are also new fees, primarily to account for professional licenses or laws that did not exist until this year. For example, there is now a license for direct-entry midwives — to account for a bill which passed during last year's legislative session — that costs $63. The fee was included in a bill that passed during last year's legislative session.

The Department of Health accounts for almost half of the fee changes, with 340 amended fees. Most of them are only a few dollars, primarily for industrial testing for environmental safety, which is paid by companies, Deputy Director Richard Melton said.

There are also increased fees for tests for communicable diseases, ranging from HIV and SARS to chlamydia and rabies. Melton said those fees also are covered by companies, insurance providers or Medicaid and not by patients.