City of Oak Harbor adjusts master fee schedule

Oak Harbor residents will be paying more on a wide variety of city fees as leaders seek to catch up on long-overdue adjustments.

The council’s unanimous approval earlier this month of a revamped master fee schedule will mean higher costs for a range of things, from park reservations to utility bills to development-related permits. Tara Hizon was absent for the vote.

However, the new master fee schedule raised concerns among council members who had sticker shock from some large percentage increases.

While some fees were adjusted recently, others haven’t been updated since 2016, Finance Director David Goldman said during his presentation of the fee schedule’s annual review. This resulted in fee increases to appear comparatively high.

Among the fee changes, Goldman explained, “development