CITY OF
PASO ROBLES
User and Regulatory Fee Study
(Phase 1 of 2)
Public Safety and Non-Development Services Fees
City Council Meeting | September 16, 2025
• Background
• Fundamentals and Terminology
• Study Findings and Recommendations
• Next Steps
MEETING AGENDA
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Background
• Fees are reviewed and updated annually as a part of
standard City operations
• Comprehensive Fee Study is performed periodically
(typically performed every 3 to 5 years)
• Inflationary adjustment applied in years between
comprehensive studies
BACKGROUND
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• Communities generally use tax revenues to fund services that provide general (community-wide) benefit
• Public works
• Public safety
• Park maintenance
• Communities generally use fees and charges (direct
recovery) to fund services that provide direct benefit
• Plan Review
• Permitting
• Inspection
BACKGROUND
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• Fire Fees – review of construction and specialized business operations for compliance with Fire Code
• Police Fees – vehicle impounding, fingerprinting, specialized business license review
• Utilities Fees – new utility customer account activation, water meter installation
• Community Services Fees – reserved field/facility use, specialized lessons and program participation
• Airport Fees – transient parking/landing fees; short-term hangar rental
• Administrative Fees – Business licensing application review and processing, records requests, film permitting
FOCUS OF CURRENT STUDY
• Development fees (building,
planning, and engineering
fees) are being reviewed,
and will be brought to City
Council separately
• This update DOES NOT
examine taxes,
assessments, utility rates, or
development impact fees
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Fundamentals and Terminology
• Legal requirements
• Encourage direct recovery of costs incurred
to serve private interests/benefit or respond
to individual actions
• Provide opportunity for relief to General
Fund or other Funds where costs are
incurred
• Enable continuity of service levels by
improving cost recovery levels
MUNICIPAL FEES
• Why do Cities
Review Fees and
Charge Fees for
Services?
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• Fees proposed are not taxes, as defined by
Article 13C of the California State Constitution
• Fees are set in accordance with parameters set
by Article 13C and by Section 66014 of the
California Government Code:
• Costs allocated to the payer should bear a fair or
reasonable relationship to the payer's burdens on or
benefits received from the governmental activity
• Fees should not exceed the reasonable cost of
providing the service for which the fee is charged
FEES ARE APPROVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL
The City Council has
authority to Directly
Approve User and
Regulatory Fees and
Increases to Fees
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• Full Cost of Service
• Cost Recovery
• Subsidy
TERMINOLOGY
These terms of art
have specific meaning
across California
municipalities and
within the City
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COST OF SERVICE
• The cost of service sets the
maximum limit of a cost-based
fee. It includes:
• Direct program costs for
labor, services, and supplies
• Departmental administration
• Citywide administration and
central support services
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100%
0%Cost Recovery Targeted
Hourly
Rate for
Personnel
Providing
Services
Time
Required
to Perform
the
Service
Cost of x = Service
Fully Burdened
Hourly Rates:
• Direct and indirect
labor costs
• Services and supplies
• Agency overhead
Estimated or
Known Times for
Providing Services
Maximum Fee
Amount
Exclusively individual benefit
Considerable individual benefit
Balanced individual and
community benefit
Considerable community benefit
Mostly community benefit
Entirely community-wide benefit
COST RECOVERY POLICY FRAMEWORK
Cost recovery
policy reflects
local values
regarding the
presumed
beneficiaries for
each program
area, ranging from
community
benefit to
individual
benefit
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SUBSIDY
• The amount of a
program’s full cost of
service that is
supported by other
City revenue sources
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100%
0%Cost Recovery Targeted
Full Cost
of Service
($)
Revenue
from
Current
Fee ($)
City Subsidy
Maximum Level of
Cost Recovery =
100%
Current Level of
Cost Recovery =
X%
Minimum Level of
Cost Recovery =
0%
Study Findings and Recommendations
• Community services fees for services such as reserved use of City indoor facilities, sports fields, and courts are proposed for minor modification.
• The City’s emphasis continues to be:
• Maintaining active, dynamic, use of public spaces.
• Prioritizing non-profit users.
• Providing multiple venue sizes and types with corresponding pricing to accommodate the needs of various users.
COMMUNITY SERVICES FEES
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• The City’s Library and Recreation Services continue to be primarily supported by the General Fund (i.e., highly
subsidized services):
• 1% of Library costs are recovered from fees and fines. • 10% of Parks and Recreation costs are recovered from fees.
COMMUNITY SERVICES FEES
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COMMUNITY VALUES INFLUENCE RATES & CHARGES
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0%
1-20%
21-40%
41-70%
71-90%
91-100%+*
1-Entirely Community Benefit
2-Mostly Community Benefit
3-Considerable Community Benefit
4-Balanced Individual
& Community Benefit
5-Considerable
Individual Benefit
6-Exclusive
Individual Benefit
PROGRAM
BENEFICIARY
COST RECOVERY
TARGETED
100%+ indicates minor exceptions where premiums above cost may be justified, such as market-based rents.
REGIONAL FEE COMPARISON
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$72
$80
$85
$120
$0 $20 $40 $60 $80 $100 $120 $140
PASO ROBLES - CURRENT
PASO ROBLES - PROPOSED
ATASCADERO
MORRO BAY
Group Swim Lessons
REGIONAL FEE COMPARISON
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$5
$5
$5
$5
$0 $1 $2 $3 $4 $5 $6
PASO ROBLES - CURRENT
PASO ROBLES - PROPOSED
ATASCADERO
MORRO BAY
Drop-In Swim
• Adjust fees to more closely align fees to service provided • Enhance cost recovery while maintaining compliance with laws and alignment to the region
• In future years, fees are proposed to be adjusted annually by the change in regional cost inflation
PUBLIC SAFETY FEES / UTILITY SERVICES FEES / ADMINISTRATIVE FEES
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• No changes are proposed to fees and charges for Paso
Robles Airport based aircraft.
• Transient aircraft parking fees are proposed to be adjusted with a new structure based on aircraft weight. This is
consistent with transient aircraft landing fees which are also based on aircraft weight.
• New fees are proposed for short-term rental of unoccupied aircraft hangars.
AIRPORT FEES
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• Fees are proposed to be adjusted to the scale of activity requested to be conducted within City limits, with lower fees for smaller scale/shorter duration events and
productions and higher fees for larger scale/longer
duration events and productions.
FILM PERMIT AND RECREATION EVENT PERMIT FEES
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Fiscal Impact of Proposed Changes
FISCAL IMPACT
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Anticipated Fiscal Impact is $142K in additional General Fund revenues to offset the costs of existing direct services provided.
Next Steps
City Council Review and Consideration of Proposed
Fee Adjustments
NEXT STEPS
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Questions or Feedback