Food pantry fee break proposed

The City Council could vote next week on a proposal to reduce Boston food pantry permit fees. (JONATHAN WIGGS/GLOBE STAFF/FILE)

When it comes to distributing food to the needy, even $99 a year can make a difference, says Boston City Councilor Michael Ross.

Ross is proposing giving just such a break to Boston food pantry operators on their city permit fees - reducing the fee from $100 to $1. The City Council could vote on the idea next week.

Two local food pantry operators applauded the move.

"We can feed quite a few people with $100," said Lia Tota, director of the ABCD North End/West End neighborhood service center, which is opening a pantry at the West End Senior Center. "So it should be going to the people, not the bureaucracy."

Lisa Timberlake, a spokeswoman for the city's Inspectional Services Division, confirmed that the city charges nonprofits $100 annually to operate a food pantry, but that if the pantries serve only the homeless, destitute, or elderly, the fee is $10.

Ross considers his proposal a way to support those who are assisting the needy.

"Many of these food pantries are literally run by volunteers with virtually no funds or are out of church basements," he said. "To charge them $100 . . . we should pay them $100 for the service they are providing."

The Rev. John Odams, pastor of Pilgrim Church in Dorchester, said an anonymous donor covered half the $100 fee for his church this year.

"On something that is basically a shoestring budget," he said, "this is a big chunk of change."

John C. Drake can be reached at jdrake@globe.com.