LAKEPORT – After more than a decade without city fee hikes, the Lakeport City Council is set to approve a new fee schedule for city services first presented to them early in 2006.
The city in 2004 began the process of hiring a consulting firm to look at city services and the accompanying fees. Eventually, the city hired the consulting firm Maximus, which presented a cost of services fee study in February 2006 and again in March 2007.
The lengthy study considered, in detail, what services city staff provide and how much the public pays for the services in return.
It's important to make the distinction here that a fee isn't a tax. Taxes provide services for the public at large, while fees are for services the city provides to individuals or a specific group. Fees cover services such as permits, building inspections, zoning changes and nuisance violations.
Daniel Edds of Maximus originally estimated that by undercharging or not charging at all, the city was losing as much as $350,000 a year, a significant amount for a city with an annual budget of around $17 million.
Even so, the fee schedule has yet to be approved by the council, despite staff recommendations support the study. That's because both the council and the public expressed dismay about the significant increases Maximus' study proposed.
To finally wrap up the fee schedule matter, the council had a May 22 workshop at which they set up several “points of consideration.” Those include phasing in fees that have a 100-percent or more increase. Fees with 50-percent or more increases have a two-year phase-in, with a one-year phase-in for fees with less than a 50-percent proposed increase.
Tom Pelandini, president of the Lake County Board of Realtors, sent the council a letter dated May 22, saying the group was concerned that the city was attempting to make up for 13 years of not having raised fees “in one fell swoop.”
Higher fees, Pelandini wrote, could discourage residents from applying for necessary permits, which in turn will lead to more building code violations. He also suggested a “stepped increase” over time.
Although many of the originally controversial fees have been reduced, the council still had some reservations at its June 5 meeting.
That's because many of the proposed fees remain extremely steep.
For instance, a person who wants a permit to build a front yard fence higher than 3 feet or a backyard fence higher than 6 feet currently has to pay $60. The Maximus study suggests $711. City Community Development Director Richard Knoll said they don't get many such permit requests – only six since 2005, although four have been made this year alone.
City staff recommended a 25-percent reduction of that fee and several others, such as a home occupation permit, which would otherwise rise from $50 to $259; a tentative subdivision parcel map for one to four lots, jumping from zero to $1,465; architectural design and review, from $295 to $3,491; and lots divisions for four or more lots, from $275 to $5,947.
A curb, gutter and sidewalk encroachment permit, which is to go from $15 to $563, also concerned council members. City Engineer Scott Harter said those permits require as many as eight city staff inspections, plus a plan review. The county, where he used to work, charges only $150, but it's not as involved a process, he said, with only three inspections.
City Attorney Steve Brookes said the city needs to do sidewalks right, because falling on city sidewalks is the highest source of liability claims against the city.
If a citizen wants to appeal to the City Council regarding a Planning Commission decision, they now pay $150; after the fees are approved, they would pay $776, to cover staff time to analyze the appeal, said Knoll.
Councilman Jim Irwin said it's important, however, for the city to remain “accessible” in terms of its fee structure.
One big fee jump that Mayor Roy Parmentier said he was all for seeing implemented immediately was a new $365 fee to deal with nuisance vehicles. That city service has no existing fee.
Some of the permits not on the list that are experiencing marked increases include a permit for a water heater, which is rising to $300.
City Manager Jerry Gillham told the council that in his observation the standard of living in a community is linked to future prosperity and livability which, in turn, is directly related to fees.
“That bar that you set is important in terms of maintaining a sustainable community,” Gillham said.
The most livable communities, he said, have been found to have the highest fees. “Fees aren't necessarily a detriment to positive economic growth.”
The City Council meeting will begin at 6 p.m. Tuesday, June 19, at Lakeport City Hall, 225 Park St.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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