The Dunedin City Council is considering charging schools, clubs and other not-for-profit groups a $16 fee to register their sausage sizzles when food is being sold in public.
Commercial operators - such as fruit sellers in George St - would be charged $30, while market organisers could also face hefty new fees, rising by $111 for every 10 stalls if the event was considered "high risk".
The changes were part of a drive by the council's environmental health team to offset the rising cost of policing a growing number of fundraising events and community markets, team leader Ros MacGill said.
However, the move has been criticised by Green Island School principal Steve Hayward, who said it would take money from pupils relying on fundraising to offset the cost of school camps.
The school held twice-weekly sausage sizzles selling to pupils inside the school grounds, an activity which would remain exempt from the new fee.
However, pupils and volunteer parents also sold sausages and home baking on the street, which would attract the council's new fee for non-profit groups, with a $16 fee being lost from proceeds each time.
"That's just another cost that will come off the kids," Mr Hayward said.
"I'd be really disappointed to see that being introduced. It's hard enough raising funds with schools today, without having more compliance for a thing that I would say is minimal hassle at the moment."
The proposal was presented to councillors as part of last week's council 2012-13 pre-draft annual and long-term plan meeting.
Ms MacGill was asked to prepare a report before the budget was signed off, after several councillors raised concerns at the meeting.
Chalmers Community Board chairwoman Jan Tucker raised concerns as well, saying the fees could spell the end for some community markets in Dunedin.
Cr Colin Weatherall also expressed doubts about the proposal last week. When contacted yesterday, he said he wondered whether one more fee might be "the one that breaks the camel's back".
He organised the annual Brighton Gala Day, a free not-for-profit community event which has been held for 15 years and raised money for groups including the Brighton Surf Club.
It was held again on Sunday, and attracted 130 stall operators, which Cr Weatherall feared would mean a potentially hefty fees total under the new proposal.
However, Ms MacGill said the Brighton Gala Day was among a majority of market-style events that would not attract the new organisers' fee, as long as those events continued to attract mainly registered food stall operators already checked annually by inspectors.
Instead, council inspectors would focus on visiting "high risk" events that attracted more unregistered operators, such as last year's Port Chalmers Seafood Festival, she said.
The fees aimed to cover the cost of the council's environmental health operation, which was increasing as the number of events in Dunedin grew, she said.
"We are there to protect the public, and we wouldn't be doing our job if we weren't ensuring they were operating safely," she said.
