BUILDING USER FEE
STUDY
December 11, 2024
BACKGROUND
• July 1994 Contracted with Charles Abbott Associates for Building and Safety Services
• Building Fees last updated in 1996 and 2007
• Current Fees are based on the City's Permit Fee Schedule and the International Code Council (ICC) Valuation Data Table
NEXUS STUDY
• User fees cannot exceed the estimated reasonable cost of providing a service • Detailed review of time estimates, direct labor costs, and overhead • A comprehensive study every 5-7 years
• For interim years, a cost adjustment factor is applied to reflect year-over-year changes in costs
• Result: Activity Service Cost Analysis
FEE SETTING
• Actual costs determined by Nexus Study
• City Council Policy decision to set fees
• Council Policy 3.01 Budget and Fiscal
• Cost recovery for City-provided services should generally be very high. In most instances, the City's cost recovery goal should be 100%.
• Public Hearing
BUILDING FEE CALCULATION
• Valuation (Existing)
• Occupancy/Square Footage (Proposed)
EXISTING PERMIT FEE TABLES
Current Fee (Valuation):
1) Determine valuation
2) Calculate fee from valuation
PROPOSED PERMIT FEE TABLE
Proposed Fee (Occupancy/Square Footage):
1) Calculate fee from square footage and occupancy
PROPOSED BUILDING FEE STRUCTURE
Advantages
• Simple
• Transparent
• Defensible
BUILDING FEE STUDY
• April 2024 NBS Consultants
• Process and Preliminary Results (Lauren Guido, NBS)
10 NBS PRESENTATION AGENDA
1. Project Goals
2. Project Approach
3. Summary of Results
4. Questions
11 PROJECT GOALS
Understand
Full Cost of
Providing
Services
Set Municipal
Fees
Accordingly
2 1
12 PROJECT SCOPE
Cost Recovery Opportunities YES
Revenues Adopted Solely by
City Council YES
Taxes, Fines, Development Impact
Fees, Utility Rates, etc.NO
13 AUTHORITY FOR FEES
• Proposition 26
Article XIIIC§1(e)(3) Inspections and
Regulatory Permits are
exempt…however are still limited to the
local government’s reasonable costs.
• CA Government Code
§66014(a)
“Those fees may not exceed the
estimated reasonable cost of providing
the service for which the fee is charged”
14 PROJECT APPROACH
Data
Collection
Fee
Structure
Review
Annual
Total Cost
Analysis
Hourly
Cost
Analysis
Per Unit
Cost
Analysis
Cost
Recovery
Outcomes
and Fee
Setting
Policy
15 DATA COLLECTED
3 Time estimates (annual and per fee item)
1 Adopted budget and staffing
2 Workload from last complete Fiscal Year
4 Current / recommended fees
16 FEE STRUCTURE REVIEW
Flat Fees
Variable Fees Based on Project Characteristics
Variable Fees Based on Actual Time Tracked
(with Deposits Managed as Needed)
17 DEFINING TOTAL COSTS
• Salaries and benefits
• Services and supplies
Direct
• Program, Division, Departmental and City-wide
Indirect
• Review required from internal departments for
approval
Support
• General Plan update/maintenance
• Technology update/maintenance
Systems and Maintenance
18 FULLY BURDENED HOURLY RATE
CALCULATION
Hourly Rate
Outcomes
ü Building: $146
$ per hour
=
/ Hours
Direct Services
Indirect Services
Support
19 PER UNIT COST CALCULATION
Fully-
Burdened
Hourly Rate
(FBHR)
Time to
Complete
Maximum
Fee
Amount
20 COST RECOVERY/FEE SETTING
Full Cost of
Service ($)
Revenue from
Current Fee ($)
Funding from Increased
Fee or Non-Fee
Revenue Sources
Current Cost
Recovery Level
Maximum Cost
Recovery 100%
Minimum Cost
Recovery 0%
21 SUMMARY OF RESULTS
• City of Camarillo currently recovers approximately 34% of the total annual cost of providing services.
• Should the Council adopt all fees at 100% of the Cost of Service per Activity amounts shown, an additional $2.2 million could be recovered. • City staff recommend a fee increase to recover approximately 98% of the City’s total annual cost of providing services. These initial recommendations for adjusted fee amounts recover an additional $2.1 million.
22 UNDERSTANDING RESULTS OF FEE
ANALYSIS
• Appendix A to the Final Report displays the results of the analysis for the Building & Safety Department:
oCost of Service per Activity = fee amount at 100% cost recovery oExisting Cost Recovery % = compares the full cost calculation to current fee
• Appendix B to the Final Report displays the Comparative Fee Survey for Fee Related Activities and Services to neighboring agencies. 23 COMPARATIVE SURVEY
• Comparison agencies: Cities of Oxnard, Santa Barbara, Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, and Ventura
• Reasonable attempt to compare readily available information • Caveats:
oDiffering cost recovery policies or procedures
oVaried terminology for provision of similar services
oBasis of fees and frequency of review differs among jurisdictions 24 USER FEE UPDATE – NEXT STEPS
October 28, 2024 December 11,
2024 January 2025
At least 60
days after
adoption
Finance
Committee
City Council
Informational
Session
City Council
Adoption
Hearing
Date fees are
effective
25 STAFF RECOMMENDATION
• Receive an update on the Building and Safety Fees Study and provide input to staff.
26