By Theresa Knapp 

The Town of Hopedale has increased its annual licensing fees for the first time since 2014. 

Town Administrator Mitch Ruscitti told the Select Board at its Nov. 13 meeting, “Given the revenue situation we have in the community, and what the comps are for the surrounding communities, it does make sense to bump some of these a little bit and work towards putting them in line with some of the surrounding communities.” 

He described the increases as “very incremental, small in nature, not projected to have adverse impact on the business community.” 

“They still, I will note, in many cases, particularly as it relates to the liquor licenses, are much more affordable than Franklin, Hopkinton, and Milford by a degree of about a third in the case of Hopkinton and Franklin, and $600 lower than Milford; so, we’re still on the low end for our business community but it’s more fair than where it was,” said Ruscitti, noting this would be the first in a multi-step process to update fees.