Marina Blatt reports from the Oak Harbor City Council meeting of Wed., Nov. 5, 2025 for the Whidbey News-Times. Read the whole story.
Summary by Perplexity.ai
Oak Harbor’s city council approved a broad fee increase across many services, from park reservations to utility bills, to address years of overdue adjustments. While some fees changed recently, others hadn’t been updated since 2016, resulting in steep hikes—such as a 33% rise in late utility payment and sharp jumps in kayak/moorage and fireworks permits. Council members voiced concerns about large percentage increases and emphasized that fees should be reviewed annually to avoid future shock. The city plans to replace ad hoc updates with comprehensive yearly reviews. Leaders acknowledged the need to balance affordability while justifying the necessity for each fee.
They Said It
Councilmember Eric Marshall expressed concerns about the city waiting so long to adjust the fee schedule, which resulted in larger increases at one time.
“I would encourage that we do these master fee increases a little bit more incrementally than waiting so many years and then having such a significant increase,” he said, citing examples of the 100% hike in fireworks display permits and a 471% increase for kayak and dinghy moorage.
Weighing in, Councilmember Christopher Wiegenstein inquired about the long-term plan to prevent these major fee updates that previously slipped through the cracks.
Councilmember Jim Woessner expressed his approval of reviewing the master fee schedule on an annual basis, but agreed with his fellow council members that affordability matters and that they need to be able to justify each fee.
