Davis Just Made Batting Cages and Parking Permits Way More Expensive

Your next trip to Playfield Park just got a lot pricier. The Davis City Council has greenlit a slate of fee increases across municipal services, and some of the jumps are jaw-dropping enough to make you double-check the math.

Here’s what stung the hardest: want to park on a greenbelt or park? That permit is climbing from $30 to $227—a 657% increase that’s less of a bump and more of a vault. It’s the kind of number that makes you wonder if they’re charging per tree at this point. But that’s not the only shocker. A token at Playfield Park’s batting cage is jumping from $3 to $15, which means five bucks swings are now fifty-dollar swings. Street use permits nearly double from $35 to $69, and noise permits rise from $35 to $75.

The city says a study revealed they’d fallen behind on fee increases—essentially, inflation had been quietly eroding the value of their fee structure for years, and they’re now playing catch-up all at once. Fair enough in theory. Cities do need to fund services, and sometimes that means rates have to reset. But the timing and the magnitude matter, especially for Davis residents and small businesses that rely on these services.

All these changes take effect on July 1, 2026, so you’ve got a couple months to budget accordingly. If you’re planning a big park event or planning to hit the cages, you might want to squeeze it in before summer hits. The full list of fee changes is available in the city’s official breakdown, and it’s worth a look if you use any other city services—there could be more surprises lurking in there.

The real question isn’t whether Davis needs to update its fees; it’s whether hitting residents and businesses with massive increases all at once is the gentler path forward.