STAFF REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
DATE: Regular Meeting of June 25, 2024
TO: Mayor and Members of the City Council
VIA: Dante Hall, City Manager
SUBMITTED BY: Edwin Gato, Director of Finance
SUBJECT: Public Hearing on Approving Additions, Deletions and Adjustments to the Master Fee Schedule with said Additions, Deletions and Adjustments to become effective July 1, 2024 RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Open the Public Hearing, Receive a Staff Report, Take Public Testimony, Close the Public Hearing, and Adopt the following resolution (Attachment 1):
A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Hercules Approving Additions, Deletions, and Adjustments to the Master Fee Schedule with said Additions, Deletions, and Adjustments to Become Effective July 1, 2024.
DISCUSSION:
The public hearing was noticed in the local newspaper on June 13, 2024. The purpose of the public hearing is to provide a formal opportunity for community input. The proposed FY 2024-25 Master Fee Schedule will be available on-line on the City’s website (www.ci.hercules.ca.us) and through the following link: https://www.herculesca.gov/government/finance/master-fee-schedule.
By way of background, a municipality is authorized to establish reasonable fees for services rendered. The City has established fees by the Municipal Code's authority, City Ordinances, City Resolutions, City development/funding agreements, and State and Federal statutes. Those fees do not exceed the estimated reasonable cost of providing the service for which the fees are charged. In government, the difference between a fee and a tax is that an individual pays a fee for a specific good or service rendered by the government that benefits only that individual. In contrast, a tax has only a general connection to the benefits received by an individual.
To make it easier for citizens, staff, and interested parties to understand the City's various fees and provide a comprehensive list of the City's fees, a Master Fee Schedule lists the fees in place as of July 1, 2024, covering FY 2024-25. Certain fees are automatically increased each year based on either the change in the consumer price index (CPI) or the difference in the engineering news record construction cost index (ENR).
Staff conducted a comprehensive user fee study to ensure that the City assesses appropriate fees and rates that will allow the City to recover the actual costs incurred for fee-related services. The study was completed and approved by Resolution on November 14, 2023.
Staff recommends updating the fee on July 1, 2024, by automatically increasing specific fees by 3.8% based on the April 2023 to April 2024 Bay Area Consumer Price Increase, except if the fee’s legal basis provides limitations. Because the fees are rounded to the nearest dollar, the percentage and dollar amount changes fluctuate.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The eligible fees in the Master Fee Schedule will be increased by 3.8%. The projected increase in revenues from the new fees outlined in the Master Fee Schedule is included in the Proposed FY 2024-25 Budget. The estimated increase in revenue depends upon the level of activity during the fiscal year.
ATTACHMENTS:
Resolution
FY 2024-25 Proposed Master Fee Schedule
2 Date Page 1