REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM: THOMAS ESQUEDA, City Manager
GEORGEANNE A. WHITE, Assistant City Manager
BY: HENRY FIERRO, Budget Manager
Budget and Management Studies Division
SUBJECT
Title
Actions pertaining to amendments to the Master Fee Schedule Resolution No. 80-420 to Add, Adjust, or Delete Various Fees:
1. HEARING to Consider Adoption of the 566th Amendment to the Master Fee Schedule Resolution No. 80-420 to Add, Adjust, or Delete Various Development Fees Associated with the Current Planning, Building and Safety Services Divisions of the Planning and Development Department (Citywide)
2. ***RESOLUTION -566th Amendment the Master Fee Schedule Resolution No. 80-420 Making Various Changes to the Regulatory, Development, and User Fees in the Current Planning, Building and Safety Services, and Divisions of the Planning and Development Department. (Subject to Mayor’s Veto)
3. ***RESOLUTION - 565th Amendment to the Master Fee Schedule Resolution No. 80-420 to Add, Adjust, Revise or Delete Various Fees in the Department of Public Utilities and the Department of Public Works (Subject to Mayor’s Veto)
Body
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommend that Council:
1. Hold a hearing to Consider Adoption of the 566th Amendment to the Master Fee Schedule Resolution No. 80-420 to Add, Adjust, or Delete Various Development Fees Associated with the Current Planning, Building and Safety Services Divisions of the Planning and Development Department (Citywide)
2. ***RESOLUTION -566th Amendment the Master Fee Schedule Resolution No. 80-420 Making Various Changes to the Regulatory, Development, and User Fees in the Current Planning, Building and Safety Services, and Divisions of the Planning and Development Department (Subject to Mayor’s Veto)
3. ***RESOLUTION - 565th Amendment to the Master Fee Schedule Resolution No. 80-420 to Add, Adjust, Revise or Delete Various Fees in the Department of Public Utilities and the Department of Public Works (Subject to Mayor’s veto)
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The attached resolutions to adopt the 565th and 566th Amendments to the Master Fee Schedule (MFS) Resolution No. 80-420 addressing fee changes, and annual routine revisions to the following sections of the MFS: Department of Public Utilities (DPU) and Public Works; and Planning and Development (Planning).
BACKGROUND
The annual revision of the MFS is being presented at this time to enable adjustments approved by Council to be incorporated into the planning of the FY 2023 budget. Staff will proceed with estimating revenues for FY 2023 based on the adoption of these updates to the schedule. The following narrative details the proposed fee adjustments by MFS section.
DPU (Solid Waste): The Solid Waste Division is proposing increases to the Container Exchange fees for new 64- and 96-gallon containers. These fees are being adjusted to recover the labor, equipment and container costs associated with a customer requesting a new cart for aesthetic reasons only.
Public Works: The Public Works Department is proposing to increase one fee and incorporate two fees from another section of the Master Fee Schedule. The Department would like to increase the Community Facilities District 11 Annexation fee to recover the cost of delivering this service which has increased due to rising labor costs, overhead and time required to complete the review process.
The fees for Lot Line Adjustment Application and Voluntary Parcel Merger are being relocated from the Planning and Development section of the Master Fee Schedule to the Public Works section as Public Works is the Department that processes these items. These fee amounts for not being adjusted.
Planning: Planning is proposing several adjustments to the MFS, as outlined below. Pursuant to the Mitigation Fee Act (Government Code Section 66000 et. seq.) any action to increase certain specified fees require a noticed public hearing at a regularly scheduled meeting of the Council. If adopted, fees will become effective no sooner than 60 days after final approval or July 1, whichever is later.
As outlined below, Planning is proposing sixteen text changes, twelve fee adjustments, one new fee, and one fee deletion. The proposed changes also include relocating several fees to different pages within the MFS.
• Text Changes: The seventeen text changes are proposed for clarification purposes and are located in the following sections of the MFS: (1) New Construction, Commercial Tenant Improvements, Residential Additions; (2) Miscellaneous Items, including Residential Remodels & Minor Alterations; (3) Plan Check & Inspection/Permit Fees for Mechanical, Plumbing and Electrical; (4) Land Use, Zoning and Subdivision; and (5) Land Use and Zoning.
• Fee Adjustments: The twelve proposed fee adjustments are to the following: (1) inspection fee for “Fence or Wall, Each Additional 100 lf” (under Miscellaneous Items, including Residential Remodels & Minor Alterations); (2 - 5) all four subcategory inspection fees for “Fence or Freestanding Wall” (under Miscellaneous Items, including Residential Remodels & Minor Alterations); (6-7) both subcategory inspection fees for “Retaining Wall” (under Miscellaneous Items, including Residential Remodels & Minor Alterations); (8-9) both subcategory plan check fees for “Signs” (under Miscellaneous Items, including Residential Remodels & Minor Alterations); (10) “blended hourly rate” for all Planning and Land Section Services not listed (under Land Use, Zoning and Subdivision); (11) “Minor Revised Exhibit / hourly rate” (under Land Use, Zoning and Land Division); (12) “Minor Revised Exhibit / hourly rate” (under Land Use, and Zoning).
The fee adjustments to Fence or Wall, Fence or Freestanding Wall, and Retaining Wall are based on adjusted time allotments required to complete these services. The fee adjustment to Signs will correct an error in which the fees for electric signs and non-electric signs were swapped in the Schedule. Staff was aware of the error and charged the correct fees for electric and non-electric signs. The blended hourly rate and Minor Revised Exhibit / hourly rates are being increased to match other instances of these rates which were updated in the 561st Amendment to the Master Fee Schedule for FY 2021.
• New Fees Proposed: The proposed new fee is the inspection fee for “Grading (Cut and Fill) - Plan Check + As-Grade” (under Miscellaneous Items, including Residential Remodels & Minor Alterations). The inspection fee is the applicable hourly rate and has been added to recover the cost for staff time spent verifying project concurrence with submitted Grading Plan and As-Grade Plans.
• Deletions: The proposed deletion is the “Residential Photovotaic [sic] Systems - each” fee. This fee is outdated and has been replaced by fees in the Schedule based on the kW size of a photovoltaic system.
ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS
Pursuant to the definition in California Environmental Quality Act Guidelines Section 15378, the proposed changes to the Master Fee Schedule are not a “project.”
LOCAL PREFERENCE
Local preference was not considered because this agenda item does not include a bid or award of a construction services contract.
FISCAL IMPACT
The FY 2023 Budget will be built on the assumption that the fees contained in the 565th and 566th Amendments will be implemented. The effective date of this amendment is July 1, 2022, unless otherwise noted.
Attachments:
565th Amendment to the Master Fee Schedule Resolution
566th Amendment to the Master Fee Schedule Resolution
Master Fee Schedule Exhibit A
Master Fee Schedule Exhibit B
FY 2023 Annual MFS Submission Summary