The city will soon be increasing a number of fees because what it’s presently charging does not cover the full cost of services, the Ceres City Council ordered last week.
By law certain user fees must be based on the nexus to costs so in June 2023 the council commissioned a study to look at costs of services balanced against user and regulatory fees. That task fell to ClearSource Financial Consulting (ClearSource) which was hired as a consultant. The study analyzed the city’s cost of providing fee-related services. The firm concluded that the city’s fees are too low at a cost of $200,000 annually to the General Fund in revenue it should be capturing through higher fees.
Generally the increases for reservations of city facilities are 18 percent.
The new fees will take place 60 days after adoption, which occurred on Nov. 11.
Terry Madsen, president of ClearSource, delivered a presentation on the study and made it clear that the increases do not affect taxes or assessments, utility rates or development impact fees. Instead the fees to be increased include:
• Building permit fees, planning fees, engineering or encroachment permit fees with improvement plan review, permitting, and construction inspection along with review and inspection of work conducted within the city right-of-way.
• Business license fees;
• Rental of city facilities, which are proposed to increase by 18 percent;
• Administrative fees for licensing.
• Some fees charged by Ceres Police and for fire prevention.
“The legal requirements around fees are we don’t want to turn this into a profit making endeavor,” said Madsen. “We want fees to be linked to our cost of providing services but not exceed our cost of providing services.”
The city’s costs include employee labor, uniforms, HR and technology.
Examples of the new building fees for permits are as follows: HVAC or water heater change-out in a residence, $175; residential re-roofing, $263; siding replacement, $175; electrical service panel upgrade, $175; EV charger, $175; swimming pool remodel, $875; retaining wall permit, $525; window or sliding glass door retrofit or repair, $175 for up to five; detached and attached ADUs (accessory dwelling units), $4,375.
For new buildings, additions, tenant improvements, residential remodels and combined mechanical, electrical and/or plumbing permits, the permit fees range from $131.25 for improvements valued under $2,000; to $7,000 for the first $1 million of improvements.
Examples of planning fees include: $4,200 for a conditional use permit involving a major hearing and $2,100 for a minor hearing.
Tentative parcel/tract map fees range from $3,150 for a map of four parcels or less to $5,600 for a map of five or more lots. Annexation fees are now $11,200 while a Zoning Ordinance Text Amendment fee is $7,000.
Police fees
Fees for a police report, clearance letter and copies of videos are $20; vehicle release, $200; live scan administrative fee, $25; third false alarm call response, $100, escalating to $150 for the fourth and $200 for the fifth and each subsequent. DUI accident cost recovery fee of $12,000 will be charged for those arrested.
Ceres American Legion Memorial Hall rentals are going up. Rentals by Ceres residents and non-profit groups for Mondays through Thursdays increase are $70 per hour, $200 for half-day and $1,060 for the day. The cost for a Ceres resident to rent the hall for a full Friday or Sunday is $1,060 while out-of-towners and businesses pay $1,180. A full-day Saturday rental is $1,115 for Ceres residents and $1,240 for businesses and those living outside of Ceres.
Various new charges are also being charged to rent rooms in the Ceres Community Center.
Madsen advised the council to update annually for inflation every handful of years.
“You live in an inflationary environment and so when fees are less static over time and your costs increase, your cost recovery doesn’t stay the same, it actually reduces.”
