REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Public Hearing: Action on the Adoption of the Fiscal Year 2020/21 Municipal Fee Schedule [Council Pillar: Deliver and Enhance High Quality Efficient Services and Infrastructure]
Report
BACKGROUND
The City of Santa Clara's Proposed FY 2020/21 Municipal Fee Schedule (Fee Schedule) is a compilation of fees for City services provided to members of the public. The advantages of updating the City's user fees include assuring that fees are set based on current costs and approved cost recovery objectives while providing transparency in the fee structure for the City's development-related and other municipal fees. These fees cover the costs for specific City services, except those mandated by or set by another Council action or document (e.g., Electric Rate Schedule, Water & Sewer Utilities Rate Schedule, and Santa Clara Recreation Activity Guide).
Proposition 218 and California Government Code Section 66014 enable local agencies to set fees at rates that obtain fair and reasonable recovery of costs incurred in providing these services, thereby minimizing or eliminating the use of limited general tax revenues to fund these services. To the extent that a fee has been set based upon a presumption of 100% cost recovery, the City cannot waive the fee unless it does so out of another permissible funding source such as the General Fund.
California Government Code Section 66016(a) states that prior to levying a new fee or service charge, or prior to approving an increase in an existing fee or service charge, a local agency shall hold at least one open and public meeting at which oral or written presentations can be made as part of a regularly scheduled meeting. Further, pursuant to Government Code section 66018, notices for this public hearing have been published in the Santa Clara Weekly on April 8 and April 15, 2020. The Fee Schedule is brought before the Council for approval in April of each year (see Discussion below for FY 2019/20 except...
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