Councilwoman Jasso Proposes Bumping Garage Sale Fee to $25 From $5

Photo: Courtesy of Dallasgaragesalesfromhell.com

I did some looking in to illegal garage sales after talking to Gay Revi, developer of the Dallas Garage Sales From Hell blog. I later found out from James Childers, assistant director of code compliance with the city, that embedded within the proposed fiscal 2011 budget was a $5 permit fee for garage sales, which we reported in last week’s issue of Oak Cliff People.

“That’s one of the things that the city manager has proposed in terms of generate revenue,” said Councilwoman Delia Jasso last week. “It’s what we call a garage sale permit fee. It would be a $5 fee. It could generate around $100,000 in the first year. That’s just from the fee.”

When I spoke to Jasso, she still had questions about how the permit would be implemented and enforced and how the fee would be collected. She did say the $5 fee was reasonable, and not prohibitive, and would bring in $100,000 in new revenue.

“Once I get my questions answered, I would certainly work toward it,” Jasso said. “I think $5 is not an excessive fee. If we can get this done, it will help us to curb those people that are having excessive garage sales throughout the month and throughout the year.”

Well, Steve Thompson over at the DMN is reporting this week that Jasso, with some help from Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway, is asking the council to bump the fee from $5 to $25.

“Jasso and Caraway estimate the fee could bring in $500,000 next year, and they recommend the money go toward senior dental services, cultural affairs programs, graffiti removal and animal services,” according to Thompson’s post.

What do you think? Are Jasso and Caraway getting the cart before the horse? If a $5 fee was reasonable to Jasso last week, then why increase it to $25?

By Joanna England Sep. 2, 2010 | 10:03 am | 3 Comments | Comments RSS
3 comments to "Councilwoman Jasso Proposes Bumping Garage Sale Fee to $25 From $5"
  1. Stephen @ September 2, 2010 at 1:14 pm
    Yes, they are getting a bit excessive here. The true reason for a garage sale should be to clear out excess junk and make a little spending cash. If you only make $100, $25 is a huge tax. Not everyone can itemize charitable deductions so donating isn’t always the solution. I think they need to keep it at $5 and have a registration per sale (limited to 2 annually) that they can show to code inspectors should one show up. I don’t see how registering annually and allowing two prevents additional sales. Maybe I have to see it, but seems like you could easily fool an inspector with these neighborhood flea markets if you don’t have to register each sale individually. Unless I’m missing something…?

  2. Tina @ September 9, 2010 at 4:03 pm
    Here we go again – tax everybody because of a few that break the rules. Why not go after the offenders rather than punish all citizens with a fee? Garage sales can be a good thing – it’s a way to recycle and get rid of stuff you no longer need. Dwayne Caraway – in the business of thinking up fees for the citizens when he’s not busy sucking up to the mayor.

  3. Dwaine Caraway Discusses Garage Sale Fees on Fox News « Oak Cliff People @ September 13, 2010 at 5:33 pm
    [...] reports are coming in that Caraway and Councilwoman Delia Jasso are backing off from their previous proposed permit fee of $25 per garage sale to [...]

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