User fees are nothing new in the city of Steamboat Springs; if you have ever played co-ed softball, you’ve paid a modest fee to cover the cost of the umpires who call the balls and strikes. You probably thought nothing of it.

Less familiar is the fact that if you plan to apply for a liquor license, you pay a $70 fee for the privilege of having your fingerprints taken. And, if you have the misfortune to get into a traffic accident, you are charged a $5 fee for the accident report.

With that in mind, we don’t object in principle to City Manager Gary Suiter’s plan to diversify the city’s revenue stream by raising the cost of a sales tax license from $25 to $50, or the cost of renewing a vacation home rental permit from $50 to $75.

Read more at Steamboat Today.