MARION — Selectmen approved a slightly higher dog licensing fee, a deadline for dog registration and lowered the fee for the town to keep dogs overnight on Dec. 3

Town Clerk Lissa Magauran approached the Town Administrator to say that there was no firm deadline for when to start issuing late fees on dog licenses, and the matter had been at the discretion of the Town Clerk.

Selectmen fixed that by setting a grace period and a deadline for registration. The deadline will now be March 31, and the town can charge a $25 late fee in April.

License fees were formerly $7 for spayed or neutered dogs and $10 for dogs that were not spayed or neutered. Town Administrator Jay McGrail suggested increasing that to $10 for dogs that are spayed or neutered and $13 for dogs that are not.

McGrail said he had researched other nearby towns, and the fees that he proposed were in line with what they charged.

In a small bit of good news for dog owners, Selectmen cut the fee for keeping dogs that may be running around unclaimed from $100 per night to $30 per night.

McGrail explained that the fee used to be $10 a night, and suddenly jumped to $100 a night in 2007 with no explanation. He felt that $30 a night was more reasonable. Selectmen agreed.

“We’re trying to clean up all of this on paper,” McGrail said of the dog efforts.

McGrail also plans to meet with Selectman Norm Hills on Friday to talk about the town bylaws and kennel fees, which declare a residence a kennel using a different standard than the state does.