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The San Ramon City Council is set to continue discussions and consider approving a proposed master fee schedule update that would include 15 new fees and annual updates for approximately half of the existing fees, with approximately half remaining unchanged.
The move comes following a User Fee Study and Cost Allocation Plan that was developed by outside contractors Matrix Consulting.
“The purpose of the study was to evaluate time and cost assumptions to determine the full cost (direct and indirect) of providing City services based upon the current organizational structure and processes,” Administrative Analyst Michelle Joe wrote in a staff report for the upcoming meeting.
According to state law, local agencies are prohibited from raising user fees in excess of the “reasonable cost” of providing the services they are charged for – meaning that city staff needed to know what those costs were before changing any fees.
“This fee study was essential in establishing a legally defensible framework to do so, as well as for enhancing transparency and improving ongoing financial sustainability,” Joe wrote.
The user fee study was accepted by the council last year, along with previous master fee schedule updates that went into effect with the current fiscal year. According to Joe, annual fee schedule updates are critical to the overall goal of balancing the city’s budget.
“Continued implementation of the User Fee Study and annual updates is one of the many steps toward a solvent future for the City of San Ramon and is consistent with Council Goal #2 aiming to maintain a secure financial base and explore potential revenue enhancements to increase financial stability,” Joe wrote.
Charges for services, or fee revenues, are the city’s third largest revenue source, making up more than $6.8 million or 10.3% of General Fund revenue in the current fiscal year.
“As the City solidifies information on revenue sources, better decisions can be made about setting expenditure levels,” Joe wrote.
The council has multiple options for how to proceed at the upcoming meeting. One is to adopt the master fee schedule as proposed, including a four-phase implementation of the new special event application fee, modifying the special application fee rollout to two phases instead of four, or approving the proposed fee schedule with other amendments. It also has the option of foregoing any changes to the fee schedule, which would also mean foregoing an estimated $383,000 increase in revenue in the next fiscal year.
The San Ramon City Council is set to meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday (April 22). The agenda is available here.
In other business, the council is set to continue discussions on a proposed General Plan amendment that would reduce the minimum floor area ratio in the Downtown Mixed Use-North zone from 1.25 to 0.5, at the request of Sunset Development, which owns a number of properties in that zone and is seeking the amendment in order to accommodate existing development plans.
