By Demorris A. Lee, Times Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
TARPON SPRINGS — Starting Oct. 1, fees will increase at the city's golf course and the city-owned cemetery.
The City Commission voted Tuesday night on the increases and also moved a step closer to increasing fees for use of its two boat launches.
City and state residents will now pay the same $37 fee to play 18 holes with a cart during the winter months, up $2 from the current rate. It will now cost non-Florida residents $40, up $1 from the current rate.
Summer rates for 18 holes with a cart will be $26 for city and state residents and $29 for non-Florida residents. Both are $2 increases.
Even with fee increases, Cycadia Cemetery still will be cheaper than facilities in neighboring communities, Paul Smith, the city's public services director, said in an earlier meeting. This is the first cemetery fee increase since 2006.
For an in-ground burial service with a set-up, the charge will go to $1,194, up from $995. A mausoleum crypt went from $4,080 to $4,896.
Those fees were increased by resolution, but because the fees for the city's boat launches are set by city ordinance, a second public reading must be held before they can be enacted.
Under the change, Tarpon Springs residents would pay $25, down from initial $50 request, for a one-year permit to launch boats from the city's two launching areas. Residents currently receive a launch permit at no cost.
For a nonresident, a one-year permit would jump from $25 to $100. A 30-day sticker would rise from $5 to $25 for both residents and nonresidents.
Contact Demorris A. Lee at dalee@sptimes.com or (727) 445-4174.