Ashland Makes $5.15 Monthly Parks Fee Permanent Ahead of November Vote on Utility Charges

ASHLAND, Ore. — A monthly Parks and Recreation fee charged to City of Ashland utility customers with active electric meters has helped avoid up to $500,000 in additional annual cuts, councilors learned at a meeting earlier this week.

For that reason, Ashland councilors decided to make the temporary parks fee permanent, keeping the current $5.15 monthly charge on utility bills for customers with active electric meters.

A parks fee of $5 was originally introduced on July 1, 2025, and was set to remain in place until June 30, 2027.

At Tuesday’s meeting, councilors were told that the fee had helped preserve Parks, Recreation, and Senior Services operations. The department had saved about $300,000 with staff reorganization, adjusted park restroom hours, reduced irrigation in parks, and contracted concessions at the Golf Course.

Without the fee, the City of Ashland would have had to cut an estimated additional $400,000 to $500,000 in annual expenses from the Parks Department, or make cuts in other departments, in its 2027-2029 biennium budget.

Voters Will Decide if Council Powers Over Utility Bill Charges Must be Curtailed

Ashland voters will decide on November 3 if the council should need voter approval before imposing most new or increased fees on utility bills.

Measure 15-243 would require voter approval for utility bill fees that are unrelated to basic services. A concession is that exemptions will apply to increases that do not exceed inflation, as well as federal and state charges, franchise fees, and those necessary to meet state minimum requirements.

The main protagonist of the measure was resident George Kramer, who started a petition after the city council decided to increase fees for wildfire prevention and public safety and to create a parks fee, adding a combined $12.50 to monthly utility bills, according to Roman Battaglia of Jefferson Public Radio.