REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Discussion and Review of User Fees for Cost of Services - Phase II
Report
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
On May 21, 2019, staff conducted a Study Session with the Council to review the City's current fee structure. As part of that Study Session, the Council established a three-phased workplan for the review and update of all Citywide User Fees. In addition, the Council discussed the findings of the Cost of Services Study (User Fee Study) and conducted a detailed review of Phase I summary of findings and results. The User Fee Study identifies areas where the City is currently under-collecting the cost associated with providing services, in an amount of approximately $22.4 million. As a result, the City is subsidizing these services with other City revenue sources. On July 16, 2019, Council adopted the fee changes recommended as part of Phase I of the User Fee Study which are reflected in the current 2019/20 Municipal Fee Schedule.
Specific areas of focus in Phase II are development-related User Fees and non-development Fire fees. A third component of the original Phase II User Fee Study was the establishment of a streamlined fee structure for Community Room Rentals across the City. On October 15, 2019, study sessions were held with both the Library Board of Trustees as well as the Parks and Recreation Commission to review an initial staff proposal. Both bodies provided valuable feedback that requires additional staff work. As such, the Community Room Rental fee structure proposal will be brought forward to Council under separate cover at a later date.
Staff is requesting policy direction from the Council on proposed adjustments to development-related and non-development related fees in order to complete the Phase II review.
BACKGROUND
It is incumbent upon government agencies to periodically evaluate and update their fee schedules to manage resources efficiently and meet service demands. In California, several constitutional provisions...
Click here for full text