HomeMy WebLinkAboutAGENDA REPORT 1995 1101 CC REG ITEM 09BITE, ,1 _
CITY COUNCIL
AGENDA REPORT
TO: The Honorable City Council )"
FROM: Donald P. Reynolds Jr., Administrative Services Manage
DATE: October 25, 1995
SUBJECT: Consider Revisions to the City's Land Use Development Fees
Summary
Pursuant to Council action on October 18, 1995, staff is returning for the purpose of
proposing a 6.3 percent increase to the City's current hourly rate applicable to Land Use
Development Fees, ( "planning fees ") of $79 per hour to $84 per hour. The previous
recommendation to increase the fee by 14 percent increase to $90 per hour, has been
amended as will be discussed below. Pursuant to Government Code 66016, the City will
include a 60 day waiting period before implementing the increase, which if adopted by
Council November 1, will become effective January 1, 1996.
Discussion
The staff report submitted for the meeting of October 18, outlined the analysis used for
arriving at the City's cost per hour for the Community Development Department and related
permit services of Code Enforcement and Administrative Services. The key factors in the
analysis is the relationship between the total costs, and the number of staff hours divided
into these costs. It was explained that the 1995 cost recovery analysis identifies that when
staff levels decrease and overhead costs remains stable, that the cost per hour may
increase, where if staff levels increase and overhead costs remains stable, that the cost
per hour decreases. The impact of changes to various departments is as follows: the
planning rate calculation increased by 6.3 percent because some fixed costs did not
decrease in the same proportion as the number of staff directly charged to the department;
the code enforcement rate increased by 2 percent as all related items remained stable
and; the Administrative Services rate increased 19 percent due an increase to indirect
costs as a result of additional finance staff which increased the department's share of the
general overhead.
Staffs original fee study resulted in a rate for Community Development of $90 per hour.
This 14 percent increase being substantially higher than in previous years, caused staff
to reevaluate the division of labor in the Department, and in particular those who support
personnel which provide financial, clerical and receptionist functions. It was realized that
the percentages of their time allotted to the Department at its prior staffing level, should
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have been reduced when three of nine positions were cut over the past two years. By
reducing their contributions, and shifting these costs to the General and other funds, the
indirect costs were reduced by 13 percent and the general overhead was reduced by 10
percent. This was a net savings of $42,733. This number is not necessarily directly
proportionate to the decrease in the number of Department positions. Staff will perform
an analysis later in the fiscal year and report back to the City Council.
The impact of dividing fewer staff into the total costs still produced a significant change in
the ratio of cost to staff and caused the fee rate to increase. It was apparent that the staff
portion of the ratio was correct, so staff reevaluated the cost portion of the analysis to
arrive at the recommended rate of $84 per hour.
Fee and Deposit Changes
The October 18, 1995, report also described that with a credible history on file for deposit
amounts, that many deposits are insufficient and need to be significantly increased. Staff
also presented two new fees and a proposed change of two flat fees to deposits.
The postage recovery fee calculation has been revaluated as shown in Attachment "B,"
and now includes the supervision of the Administrative Secretary. It is estimated that ten
percent of this position supervises the Clerical Aide. Of this cost, three percent is
attributable to mailings. The rate is now proposed at $1.04 per piece, up from the original
proposal of .40 cents per piece.
Staff has added a third new deposit intended to make it easier for an applicant to appeal
a temporary use permit or other fee of an amount of less than $500. This is proposed to
be a second tier of appeal where if the initial fee deposit or flat fee is less than $500, the
appeal flat fee would be 50 percent of this initial flat fee or fee deposit, not to exceed $125.
This new appeal fee would encompass the new temporary use fee deposit, home
occupation permit and other minor permits.
Attachment 'A" the proposed draft resolution and fee schedule, has a new column to
show how many hours the deposits pay for, which clarifies the cost of each.
All of the recommended changes from staffs report considered on October 18, are
represented in the proposed fee resolution presented in Attachment "A." Specific changes
include:
1) A 6.3% increase to all permit amounts;
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2) Increased deposit amounts for 11 developer deposits;
a. #3 CPD from 60 hours to 120 hours
b. #4 IPD from 60 hours to 170 hours
c. #5 CUP's for quarries,
oil and waste treatment
d. #7 Zone Change
e. #13 Environmental
13 a. Initial review
13 b. EIR
13 c. EIR Supp.
f. #18 Specific Plan
from 66 hours to 170 hours
from 2.4 hours to 28 hours
from 16.7 hours to 24 hours
from 44 hours to 100 hours
from 44 hours to 24 hours
from 66.7 hours to 200 hours
3) The addition of a Postage Cost Recovery flat fee of $1.04 per piece mailed;
4) The addition of a Temporary Use Permit fee deposit;
5) A new appeal fee deposit for permits where an appeal can be filed for 50
percent of the initial fee deposit if this amount is less than $500, not to
exceed $125;
6) Reversion to Acreage for Tentative Tract Maps is recommended to change
from a flat fee to a fee deposit (no change in the initial hours estimated to
complete the permit); and,
7) The Administrative Clearance Permit is recommended to change from a flat
fee to a fee deposit (with no change to the estimated number of hours to
complete the permit).
Summary
The fee has increased slowly over the past three years, and is proposed for a significant
jump this year. The sudden change caused a re- evaluation of the budget, resulting in an
adjusted budget evaluation reducing the increase from 14 percent to 6.3 percent. Staff will
adjust the budget later in the year to reflect the costs proposed by the $84 rate. The new
deposit amounts reflect a solid history of recent projects, and are all substantiated
changes. The other changes are minor housekeeping items intended to improve the
recovery of 100 percent of the City's costs for local development projects.
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That the City Council rescind Resolutions 94 -1086 adopting Resolution , provided
in the attachment, and pursuant to Government Code 66061, make the new Land Use
Development Fees effective on January 1, 1996, (sixty days from November 1, 1995).
Attachment- A) Proposed Land Use Development Fee Resolution
B) Postage Rate Calculation (revised)
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