Item Number: 1
City Council / Board of Directors
Public Hearing(s)
Meeting of: December 16, 2025
Submitted By:
Jenele Davidson, Deputy City Manager
Carmen Cun, Finance Director / City Treasurer
Subject:
Update of the Master User Fee Schedule
Recommendation:
That the Honorable City Council and Victorville Water District Board of Directors:
(1) Open and conduct the Public Hearing;
(2) Close the Public Hearing; and
(3) Adopt Resolution Nos. 25-076 and VWD-25-001, amending the Master User Fee Schedule by adjusting certain user fees based on the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index, adding certain new user fees, and making other updates and conforming changes.
Fiscal Impact:
If approved, the updated Master User Fee Schedule will become effective on January 1, 2026. The revenue estimates for the impacted user fees will be evaluated during the midyear budget review process and adjusted as may be necessary.
Strategic Plan Goal:
Performing an annual review of the Master User Fee Schedule and applying an annual escalator where appropriate helps ensure the City/District is accomplishing Goal A:
Financial Sustainability from the current Strategic Plan. These incremental adjustments help the City/District in recouping costs associated with providing various services.
Background:
As part of a general cost recovery strategy, local governments have adopted user fees to fund services that provide limited or no benefit to the community as a whole. User fees recover costs associated with providing specific services which benefit the user, thereby reducing the use of General Fund monies for such purposes. Cost recovery objectives can be based on a variety of factors, including public versus private benefits provided by 4 4
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the service. If an activity has a public benefit, it might be more appropriately supported by the General Fund. Conversely, if an activity has mostly private benefits, it might be more appropriately supported by user fees. Activities that have a mix of public and private benefits might be supported by the combination of user fees and the General Fund. An example of this would be offering Victorville residents a lower fee for Recreation programs because these programs benefit members of our community.
In 2022, the City retained the services of NBS Government Finance Group (“NBS”) to conduct a comprehensive user fee study (“2022 Fee Study”) to understand and establish appropriate levels of cost recovery for City services. The City did so to ensure that user fees do not exceed the costs of providing the services while also providing an opportunity for the City Council to re-align fee amounts with local cost recovery policies and constitutional requirements. The quantitative methods used during the 2022 Study included a cost-of-service analysis and a cost recovery evaluation which: (1) provided a measurable analysis that compiled the full cost of providing governmental services and activities; and (2) compared the existing fee for each service or activity to the average total cost of the service quantified through the analysis.
On June 7, 2022, the City Council/District Board adopted Resolution Nos. 22-055 and VWD-22-008, which approved the 2022 Fee Study and the Master User Fee Schedule.
These resolutions also established an annual review process for user fees to ensure they keep pace with inflation, utilizing the July over July comparison of the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (“CPI-U”) to determine the percentage by which the user fees could be adjusted each year. The intent was to consider adoption of revised fees annually each December, with an effective date of January 1st of each year for any adjusted fees approved. Such inflationary adjustments are discretionary and must be approved by the Council at a duly noticed public hearing.
Since the adoption of the 2022 Fee Study, the City has conducted its annual review of the Master User Fee Schedule to apply the annual escalator, completed minor studies that added new fees, and made other updates and conforming changes. The following summarizes the minor revisions and updates completed during each review:
On December 19, 2023, Resolution Nos. 23-101 and VWD-23-016 amended the Master User Fee Schedule by escalating certain user fees by 3.29% and adding new fees for Recreation and Library programming and operations that were not previously included. These fees became effective January 1, 2024. On February 20, 2024, Resolution No. 24-010 approved a minor user fee study and amended the City’s Master User Fee Schedule to establish new business license fees for sidewalk vendors and mobile vehicle vendors. These fees became effective April 4, 2024.
On December 17, 2024, Resolution Nos. 24-105 and VWD-24-010 amended the Master User Fee Schedule by escalating certain user fees by 2.70% and adding new fees not previously included on the Master User Fee Schedule, including those for Animal Care & Adoption Center services and the Industrial Pretreatment 4 4
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Program, along with other new or updated user fees across multiple departments.
These fees became effective January 1, 2025.
Discussion:
As part of the City’s ongoing effort to maintain financial sustainability and ensure cost recovery for services, an updated Master User Fee Schedule (Exhibit A to Attachments A and B) has been prepared for the City Council’s/District Board’s consideration. Staff is proposing an annual escalator be applied to the applicable user fees currently in effect based on the July 2025 over July 2024 CPI-U percentage change, which is 3.34%. This CPI-U increase poses a minimal adjustment to user fees, resulting in a smaller impact to customers, in comparison to delaying rate adjustments which could result in a larger increase in the future. Exceptions to the CPI-U adjustment are fees that are percentage- based, market-based, or otherwise governed or restricted by statute.
The Master User Fee Schedule has also been updated to include certain new user fees.
A cost-of-service estimate and a cost recovery evaluation have been conducted for all new fees added to the Master User Fee schedule (Exhibit B to Attachments A and B).
The table below offers a breakdown of all new fees or new fee subcategories that were added to the Master User Fee Schedule along with a brief explanation as to why the fee is being added:
Animal Services
Payment Plan Deposit Deposit to arrange a payment plan for Return to Owner Fees (altered and unaltered dogs).
Warrant Procurement
and Processing
Demand Activity
NOP Filed Activity
Existing Code Compliance fees, now added under
Animal Services.
Animal Hoard Case Fee Fee added to assist with the cost recovery for Animal Hoard Cases with severe animal living conditions.
Cockfighting Case Fee Fee added to assist with the cost recovery for Cockfighting Cases.
Animal Spay/Neuter Deposit Deposit to encourage new owners to schedule a spay/neuter appointment after an animal adoption.
Building
Board-up Permit Permit fee charged for the inspection of boarded windows and entryways on vacant properties.
Business License
VMC 080A Self Inspection
Privilege Option
Rental Business License fee for property owners who
conduct a self-inspection; this is an existing fee in the VMC.
Code Enforcement
Vacant Property Inspection Added fee for the inspection of registered vacant properties within Victorville.
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Community Services
Library Class Materials Nominal materials fee intended to discourage no- shows for classes and programs.
Library Room Rentals Added fees for the rental of the Meeting and Study rooms at the library.
Aquatics Adventures Added fee for new Aquatics program.
Facilities - Dance Room Added rental fee for Dance Room rental. Winter Festival
Winter Festival & Tree
Lighting
Fees added to establish a rate for permits that were
previously not included in the Community Services fee
schedule.
Fire Prevention & Suppression
Medical Gas Systems
(Review and Inspection)
Medical Gas Systems
(Operational Permit)
Bulk Beverage Carbon
Dioxide
Fees added to establish a rate for permit types that
were previously not included in the Fire Prevention fee schedule.
Land Development & Engineering
Geotechnical Report Fees for City staff preparation of geotechnical reports.
CFD Application New fee for Community Facilities District application submission.
DIF Credit Agreement Fee to recover costs associated with drafting and reviewing a DIF Credit Agreement.
Extra-Legal Transportation Added fee for the Engineering Investigation and Escort of extra-legal transportation loads.
Planning
Environmental Impact
Report
Environmental Impact Report fees for both City staff
and contractor review have been added for Zoning
Administrator applications. These fees are structured to align with the Planning Commission application types.
Police
Administrative Tow - DUI Cost recovery fee for DUI-related tows.
Report Duplication Fee for requesting duplicate police reports.
As with other annual updates, minor revisions were made to the Master User Fee Schedule to correct or clarify existing fees. These updates include renaming fees to better reflect their purpose, removing duplicate or unused fees, and adding clarifying footnotes.
Additionally, certain fees were either increased or decreased, while remaining below the maximum allowable amounts for full cost recovery. These fee changes include:
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Live Scan Rolling Fee (Business License and Police): Increased from $20 to $32 to better reflect the market average. This fee remains well below the full cost recovery amount of $105.
Check Out Service for DVD’s (Library): Reduced from $1.59 to $1.50 to align with San Bernardino County’s public library rate.
Vendor Spot at the Tree Lighting (Recreation): Reduced the Retail Vendor fee from $35 to $25 to encourage participation in this event.
General Plan Surcharge (Planning): Increased from 10% to 20%.
Among these changes, the most significant was to the General Plan Surcharge fee, which was established to recover costs of routinely updating the City’s General Plan and is assessed on all Building Permits and Plan Review fees involving new construction, additions, and major remodels. The 2022 Fee Study estimated that performing the required General Plan updates and related implementation would cost approximately $336,000 annually. Based on this estimate, staff established the current 10% surcharge, which was projected to generate about $83,962 per year, or about 25% of full cost recovery. However, the highest annual revenue collected since the 2022 Fee Study was only $42,175 in Fiscal Year 2025, or just over 12.5% of full cost recovery. Within the next two years, staff will need to engage consultant support to meet a state-mandated Housing Element update deadline. The current surcharge revenue is insufficient to fully fund the applicable share of this and other updates to the General Plan, including updates to the Resource and Circulation Elements of the General Plan. Therefore, after thorough evaluation, staff recommends increasing the General Plan Surcharge to 20% to bring the City closer to the previously estimated goal of 25% annual cost recovery.
In addition to these changes, staff also identified a correction needed for the annual escalator applied to Land Development and Engineering fees. Last year, the CPI-U escalator was inadvertently applied to the fees effective January 1, 2023, rather than to the fees effective January 1, 2024. This error resulted in reduced Land Development and Engineering fees effective January 1, 2025. Rather than correcting the fees after Council adoption, during calendar year 2025, staff proceeded with the approved amounts, charging these fees at a rate slightly below full cost recovery. These fees have now been corrected to apply the proper year-over-year CPI-U adjustments as part of the 2025 CPI fee update to achieve full cost recovery. A clarifying footnote and column have been added to this section of the Master User Fee Schedule to explain this correction.
Finally, staff have determined that no fee increases are necessary at this time for the Animal Shelter, the Industrial Pretreatment Program, or the various new Recreation fees.
Because Animal Shelter operations are still relatively new to the City, and to support the City’s adoption goals, staff aim to keep fees low to reduce financial barriers and encourage both adoptions and compliance. For the Industrial Pretreatment Program, although these fees were added to the schedule last year, they were originally studied and adopted in 2018. Staff are working with NBS to re-evaluate these fees to continue supporting maximum cost recovery. Therefore, a CPI escalator has not been applied, as a separate item is anticipated to be presented to the City Council later this fiscal year to consider adoption of updated fees for this program. Lastly, Recreation fees are generally 4 4
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set using market-rate comparisons, and the department does not see a need to adjust certain fees currently to encourage and maintain strong participation in City programs.
As the need for new User Fees arises, a cost-of-service analysis and a cost recovery evaluation will be conducted, which may result in additional updates to the Master User Fee Schedule before the next annual review.
Staff find that the proposed increases to the existing User Fees, as well as any newly established or adjusted fees, do not exceed the reasonable costs of providing services and recommend that the City Council/Board of Directors move forward with the adoption of Resolution Nos. 25-076 and VWD-25-001.
Staff are available for any questions the Council/Board may have.
Prepared By:
Alex M. Garcia, Management Specialist
Attachments: A. Resolution No. 25-076
B. Resolution No. VWD-25-001