At a time when homeowners are acutely aware of property tax hikes, Riverside and most other villages continue to find ways to raise revenues that don’t touch the levy on property.

Riverside is raising a batch of fees as of the first of the year. The stated goal, of both elected officials and administrative leadership, is to make sure users of specific village services are covering the actual cost to Riverside of providing that service. 

Some of the fees going up are highly specific. False alarm calls to police and fire will have a new fee structure in place. The cost of having water service turned on outside of business hours will go from $100 to $150 to reflect actual staff costs. Special events that require a police or fire presence will now command a cost, which aligns with the actual hourly cost of those staff members.

The most notable changes are in the area of zoning variances being applied for by either a homeowner, developer or business owner. The shift is to significantly raise the deposits required for the village to process such a request. Currently the deposits are modest and the actual costs, which are eventually billed by the village, exceed the deposits, and that can cause what Finance Director Yvette Zavala called “sticker shock” for the applicant.

The village says this is not an actual increase in the costs of applying for a variance but just a simpler way to receive payment in advance in the form of the deposit rather than needing to collect fees later.

Overall, we favor the philosophy of asking those needing an unusual service to pay for that service rather than having those costs come out of the pocket of the full citizenry through the general operating fund.

The big holiday weekend

For small towns with active but modest chambers of commerce and limited government staffing, we are always wowed by the scale of the holiday events both Brookfield and Riverside muster at this time of the year.

Riverside’s annual Holiday Stroll will be this Friday evening. It is an extravaganza spreading all across town. Our Jackie Pisano has all the ambitious details in a story on page 11.

Brookfield will not be outdone as its annual Holiday Stroll takes place this Saturday. It runs from 10 a.m. through to the tree lighting at 6 p.m. at Grossdale Station. Pisano reports that the Kris Kringle Market, which debuted last year, is back and much larger than a year ago. That story is on page 14.

Big cheer abounds for the holidays just ahead. Celebrate local and shop local, too.