The city of Salem charges the same monthly operations fee to a large distribution center in Mill Creek and a small coffee shop downtown.  The fee is levied on properties in Salem and is meant to help the city offset the costs of providing services like police and fire. It charges businesses a fl at rate of $78.47 per month, regardless of size.   That discrepancy will be part of the discussion during a Salem City Council work session on Tuesday, Feb. 17, focused on making the city’s operations fee fairer, and more connected to actual user impacts on city services.  The matter was brought to council in December by Salem City Councilor Paul Tigan, who pointed out that the city anticipated the fee generating about $15 million for the city’s general fund in 2026.  Councilors unanimously voted to direct city staff to come up with ways to update the operations fee, making it fairer, and also identifying future increases in costs for city services.   Updating the city’s operations fee has been a subject of interest for some time.  Monday night’s discussion will focus on how to restructure the fee to perhaps include different classifications of properties, according to a staff report from Chief Financial Officer Josh Eggleston.  Currently, the city’s operations fee is on a three-tier system that charges properties a flat rate of $16.28 for residential properties, $13.02 for multifamily properties and $78.47 for commercial, industrial, institutional, and public properties, Eggleston said.  The city was unable to update its system prior because of outdated utility billing software that has since been replaced.  “Because of that limitation we can’t and we don’t meaningfully differentiate among types of homes, types of multi-family units, or types of businesses,” Tigan said in December. “In practice, a very large commercial operation with a much greater impact on city services, say, one with fleets of delivery vans spanning across the city on a daily basis, pays the same monthly amount on its utility accounts as a small neighborhood barber shop.”  Get involved  How to watch Tuesday’s Salem City Council meeting When: 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 17 Where: In person at Loucks Auditorium, Salem Public Library (585 Liberty St. S.E.) Watch online: Livestreamed on YouTube in English and Spanish Public comment options In person: Members of the public can attend the meeting Written comment: Email [email protected] before 5 p.m. Tuesday, or drop off a paper comment at the City Recorder’s Office, Civic Center (555 Liberty St. S.E., Room 225) In his report, Eggleston said city staff are exploring ways to calculate the operations fee. This would include using city data to gauge the impacts a property has on city services.  Future discussions on the matter will consider whether restructuring the fee will be solely meant to improve fairness, if it will be raised for some and kept the same for others or if the rates should be adjusted to meet future costs for city services, Eggleston said.  Eggleston said some of those future costs include costs associated with the city’s Safe, Clean and Healthy Salem initiative.  That initiative increased police and city cleaning crews, and stood up a new mental health crisis unit run by the fire department as part of a six month pilot program in downtown and in northeast Salem.  If the pilot program is continued, Eggleston said, it will cost the city $2.7 million annually. Those costs would double if the program were to be expanded to other parts of the city.  Other costs include future fire department staffing of two ladder trucks and a new fire station, Eggleston said.  Contact reporter Joe Siess: [email protected]. LOCAL NEWS DELIVERED TO YOU: Subscribe to Salem Reporter and get all the fact-based Salem news that matters to you. Fair, accurate, trusted – SUBSCRIBE The post Councilors to consider charging usage-based operations fee appeared first on Salem Reporter. ...read more read less