REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM: GEORGEANNE A. WHITE, City Manager
Office of Mayor & City Manager
BY: SANTINO DANISI, MBA, City Controller/Finance Director
Finance Department
EDWARD CHINEVERE, Assistant Director
Finance Department
NIGMA SHOOK, Principal Budget Analyst
Finance Department
SUBJECT
Title
***RESOLUTION - Adopting the 590th Amendment to the Master Fee Schedule Resolution No. 80-420 to Add, Adjust, Move, Revise or Delete Various Fees (Subject to Mayor’s Veto)
Body
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that Council adopt the 590th Amendment to the Master Fee Schedule Resolution No. 80-420.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The attached resolution to adopt the 590th Amendment to the Master Fee Schedule (MFS) Resolution No. 80-420 addresses annual routine revisions to the following sections of the MFS: Airports, Animal Center, Finance, General Government, Public Utilities, and Public Works.
BACKGROUND
The annual revision of the Master Fee Schedule (MFS) is being presented at this time to enable adjustments approved by Council to be incorporated into the planning of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 budget. Staff will proceed with estimating revenues for FY 2027 based on the adoption of these revisions to the schedule. The following narrative outlines the proposed fee adjustments by department. Exhibit A (Redline) and Exhibit B (Summary) are also included reflecting exact changes.
• Airports (FAT): Increase the Single-trip transportation permit/each trip fee to recover staff time to issue each permit. This fee applies to out of town busses, limousines, and shuttles. Increase Airports Rules and Regulations Violations fees to help mitigate the number of violations by ground service providers and airlines. Increase Terminal Conference Room rates to recover staff time, overhead, and facility upgrades including Wi-Fi and audio/video equipment. Proposed rates are in line with market rates for similar airport facilities. Delete the Annual and Temporary Transportation Permit fees as they are duplicative of similar fees in the Airports MFS section.
• Animal Center: Add four hourly Impound Animal Redemption Maintenance Charges to recover cost of providing lifesaving veterinary care for impounded animals paid on redemption by owner. Increase the Health Certificate fee to recover staff time and overhead. Revise the Adoption Deposit fee text to distinguish the new Foster to Adopt deposit from the adoption hold deposit to secure an animal for a limited time. Add a new refundable Foster to Adopt adoption deposit to encourage customers to return fostered animals for scheduled vaccination and sterilization surgery appointments; adoption is finalized pending the completion of required treatment. This allows the Center to create more space for incoming rescues.
• Finance: Delete Advertising, Banner tax certificate redirect fee as it is duplicative of a fee already listed under the Planning and Development Department section. Add clarifying text to various business license fees by revising ‘See Business, Retail’ to ‘See Business, Retail/Services’. This update reduces confusion for customers who provide services within the associated categories but do not identify as retail businesses. Remove text to clarify business tax is based on daily sales and services of previous quarter in alignment with Fresno Municipal Code (FMC) 7-1202. Add previously adopted Cannabis Cultivation, Retail, Distribution, and Manufacturing tax fees per FMC 7-1407. Increase Certified Access Specialist (CASp) License State Mandated Fee (AB 1379) to align with the state mandated fee increase. Reorganize the Professional tax fee text structure for greater clarity.
• General Government: Increase 6 and decrease 2 City Hall Rentals fees in line with the current cost to operate City Hall per square foot. Increase Security Guard and After Hours City Hall Access (per hour) to reflect contractual cost adjustments from a new vendor. Increase Electrician and Property Maintenance Worker fees at City Hall to recover staff time and overhead.
• Public Utilities (Solid Waste Management Division): Increase various fees relating to Solid Waste - Special Haul, Illegal Dumping Cleanup, Skip Fee, Special Event Truck Rental, and Construction and Demolition Private Collection to recover staff time, overhead, and vehicle, equipment and supply costs. Add a new Special Pickup, per additional can fee to be charged when a customer is requesting an additional pick up service for their containers, separate from resident oversight or missed pickup. Add an internal reference to direct readers to relevant previously adopted Illegal Dumping Citation fees under the City Attorney - Code MFS section.
• Public Utilities (Wastewater Management Division): Increase and breakout hourly charges in detail for various fees under Special Charges and Penalties relating to Closed Circuit TV (CCTV) Inspection per hour, Inspection cleaning for minor debris per hour, Video Inspection Sit-in per hour, Combo Truck rate / per hour, and After-Hours Service call (Single Responder) / per hour to more accurately recover staff time, overhead, and vehicle, equipment and supply costs. Increase CCTV Inspection Lateral tie-in per hour, Review Outside Contractor CCTV Inspection / per hour, Sewer Access Structure Channel Inspection / per hour, Discharge flow dye test / per hour fees to recover staff time, overhead, and vehicle, equipment and supply costs. Add a new Construction Crew (Four Person) / per hour fee to perform repair or replacement work on City sewer infrastructure. Increase Pretreatment Administrative Penalties including Pretreatment Administrative Enforcement charges for failure to meet reporting deadlines, Pretreatment Field Enforcement Charges, and Miscellaneous non-enforcement charges. Delete three Laboratory Services fees including General Wet Chemistry/Bacteriological Analyses per hour, Organic Analysis / per hour, and Inorganic Analysis / per hour and provide line-item detail for all eleven tests performed by the lab.
• Public Utilities (Water Division): Increase various fees relating to Service Work, Water Temporary Service, Well Drilling Permit and Inspection, Well Destruction and Abandonment, and the Underground Utility Remark fee to recover staff time, overhead, and vehicle, equipment and supply costs.
• Public Works: Increase Deed Check and Recordation ‘Check and one recheck’ fee to recover staff time to review, approve, and record deed exhibits. Add a new Consent of Easement fee to recover staff time to prepare a consent of easement. This fee is intended to replace the subordination process for dedications for Public Street Right of Way Easements, when possible.
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 implemented because this agenda item does not include a bid or award of a construction services contract.
FISCAL IMPACT
The FY 2027 Budget will be built on the assumption that the fees contained in the 590th amendment will be implemented. The effective date of this amendment is July 1, 2026.
Attachment:
FY27 Annual Master Fee Schedule Resolution & Exhibit A
FY27 Annual Master Fee Schedule Exhibit B