TITLE
Recommendation to receive and file the results of the user fees and cost recovery studies for the Development Services, Health and Human Services, and Parks, Recreation and Marine Departments and associated departmental recommendations. (Citywide)
DISCUSSION
At the direction of the City Council, staff initiated a Citywide Fee Study (Study) in 2019 to conduct a comprehensive cost of service analysis for the City’s numerous fees and charges for services across various City departments. Conducting this Study complies with the City Council’s Financial Policy on Fees. That policy indicates that “User Fees and Charges will be set at the cost of the service” and that “Fees will be set to fully recover costs, except where there is a greater public benefit through use of a lower fee, such as where full recovery may adversely impact overall revenue or may discourage participating in programs where the participating benefits the overall community. The City Manager will establish a process for in-depth review of all fees over time. The review, while eventually covering all fees, should emphasize those that have or may have significant subvention (may not be at full cost).”
On August 20, 2019, the City selected the consultant Revenue and Cost Specialist (RCS) to work with City staff to identify services offered by each department, calculate the full cost of service including labor, benefits, materials, supplies, and overhead/administrative expenditures, and calculate subvention levels for each service. In addition, the Study for each department reports:
· The current fees compared to a proposed fee based on the actual cost of the services;
· Recommendations for potential new or adjusted fees and charges for service; and,
· Recommendations for alternative or adjusted fee structures.
The Study includes providing a cost of service model for each department to update on a move-forward basis to allow departments to better assess the cost of service and subvention lev...
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