Doing business with the Town of Bracebridge just got a little more expensive.

As part of the 2008 budget, which includes a 6.48 per cent tax increase, Bracebridge council approved a 3 per cent increase in fees on all planning applications and associated fees at their meeting last Wednesday.

“Each year the development services department, as part of the budget preparation and review process, considers an increase in planning applications and associated fees,” said director of development Kim Horrigan in her recent report to the development services committee. “The increased fees are required to help offset consistently rising expenditures to ensure that our department’s net cost to the taxpayer doesn’t escalate.”

Development services charges are likely the first of many municipal fees that will rise in the near future. Horrigan said a complete review of all town fees is in the works in order to “more fully recover actual costs of processing and regulating applications and operations of the municipality.”

That re-evaluation will include comparisons of the fees charged by other municipalities.

A similar process was employed prior to the development services in­crease. Horrigan reported that Bracebridge’s fees are either similar to, or slightly less than, other nearby and similarly sized municipalities.

The increase in fees is now in effect.