LEWISTON – Permit and application fees won’t automatically rise with inflation, councilors voted Tuesday.

Councilors dispensed quickly with a plan to let fees for parking violations, permits and licenses increase based on the average annual consumer price index. There was no discussion of the matter, just a quick 3-4 vote.

Councilors Renee Bernier, Lillian O’Brien and Mark Paradis voted to support the measure. Councilors Stavros Mendros, Ron Jean, Paul Samson and Normand Rousseau voted against it.

City Administrator Jim Bennett said he devised the plan as a remedy to the proposed tax-limiting Taxpayers Bill of Rights.

“We’re not sure if it could have withstood TABOR, but it seemed logical,” Bennett said.

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“As TABOR stands, we’ll have to go to the voters if we decide to increase the parking fee by $5. This might have given us a way around that.”