To: MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
From: MARC WIENER, COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
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DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON THE DRAFT USER FEE STUDY PREPARED FOR THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Community Development Department (CDD) performs a variety of services to maintain an attractive, safe, and healthy environment for residents and businesses. The Department's primary function is to oversee property development and land use activities occurring within the City. The CDD consists of the Planning and Building Divisions and is staffed with 17 full-time employees. Over the past several years (FY 2025-26 excluded) the Department's budgeted expenses have averaged approximately $4.1 million, while revenue over the same period has averaged approximately $3.7 million.
On October 29, 2024, the City Council approved the hiring of Revenue & Cost Specialists, LLC (RCS) to perform a User Fee Study (Study) which includes a comprehensive analysis of CDD fee-based services. The Study recommends an increase in the fees to help reduce General Fund subsidies and achieve greater cost recovery. The purpose of this item is to present the results of the study for discussion prior to providing the City Council with a final proposed fee schedule for consideration of approval as part of the Fiscal Year 2026-27 Budget Adoption.
The Agreement with RCS also included services to perform a separate analysis of the City's development impact fees, which is intended to be initiated upon completion of the User Fee Study. The scope of the Agreement includes a nexus study to support, and evaluate potential adjustments, to the City's current development impact fees. As part of this item, the City Council may wish to discuss expanding the scope of the Agreement with RCS to evaluate adding new development impact fees.
BACKGROUND
Over the past several years, the City Council has made incremental increases to various fees within the CDD. In 2024 an...
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