Lisbon councilors voted unanimously April 7 to increase the cost of permits and services, in some cases doubling them.

Town Manager Sarah Bennett said the increases are necessary to reduce the financial impact on taxpayers overall. Lisbon property taxpayers were heavily subsidizing the cost for those permits, she said, noting that the new rates are comparable to what other similar towns charge.

The fee increases are expected to offset property taxes by $119,000, she said. The increases will also allow the town to help families who could not otherwise afford their kids to attend town summer recreation offerings, setting aside $12,500 if approved in ongoing budget talks.

Some of the most impacted sections of the fee schedule involved buildings and construction permits, business permits, and parks and recreation costs.

All but six fees under buildings and construction permits were increased and many of them were doubled. The minimum permit fee went from $25 to $60; permits for new building and additions increased from 30 cents per square foot to 60 cents; and permits for accessory structures increased from 15 cents per square foot to 30 cents.

Inground and aboveground swimming pool permits went from 15 cents per square foot to 30 and 25, respectively. The demolition permit fee, when a Maine Department of Environmental Protection permit is required, went from $25 to $60. The change-of-use fee increased from $40 to $60.

The town changed the way it charges for foundation permits. Instead of a range from $5 to $1,000, it will now charge 15 cents per square foot. Permits for more than 500 yards of fill tripled, from $50 to $150.

A number of fees under the business permits section of the fee schedule increased by $50. Liquor license processing fees doubled from $100 to $200. Mobile food trucks requiring an itinerant vendor license became its own line item, but the fee stayed the same, while the itinerant vendor license for restaurants doubled from $100 to $200.

Perhaps the steepest increases are for marijuana businesses. The fee for a registered caregiver retail store increased fourfold, from $250 to $1,000. Medical marijuana cultivation facility, registered dispensary, manufacturing facilities and marijuana testing facilities fees doubled from $250 to $500.

There were also increases to the cost of parks and recreation programs, with the price for a nonresident to send their child to the summer day camp full time going from $750 to $1,150. That cost for residents went from $100 to $650. There were also a number of town sports programs that saw a range of increases from $5-$15.

Nearly every permit fee in the plumbing section of the fee schedule was increased. Those increases amounted to anywhere from $5-$100. Some electrical permit fees also increased. Those fees were moved into the fee schedule, whereas they were listed elsewhere before, though Bennett does not know why.

Councilors did not take action on transfer station fee changes because they are still working on service changes to that town department.