Portola Municipal Code Ch. 3.10 Fee and Service Charge

3.10.010 - Intent.¶

Pursuant to Article XIIIB of the Constitution of the state of California, it is the intent of the city council to require the ascertainment and recovery of cost reasonably borne from fees and charges levied therefor in providing the regulation, products or services hereinafter enumerated in this chapter.

(Ord. 258 (part), 1995)

Exceptions & meaning →

3.10.020 - Establishment of fee and service charge revenue/cost comparison system.¶

A. In order to carry out the city council's intent as expressed in Section 3.10.010, a fee and service charge revenue/cost comparison system is hereby established for the city.

B. The city administrator shall administer such system and in connection therewith, shall adjust such fees and charges to recover the percentage of costs reasonably borne in providing the regulation, products or services set forth in this chapter in the percentage of costs reasonably borne and on the schedule of rate review and revision as hereinafter established in this chapter.

C. "Costs reasonably borne" shall be as defined in Section 3.10.030.

D. In adjusting fees and charges, the city administrator shall act in an administrative and ministerial capacity and shall consider only the standards and criteria established by this chapter.

(Ord. 258 (part), 1995)

Exceptions & meaning →

3.10.030 - "Costs reasonably borne" defined.¶

"Costs reasonably borne," as used in this chapter, shall consist of the following elements:

A. All applicable direct costs including, but not limited to, salaries, wages, fringe benefits, services and supplies, operation expenses, contracted services, special supplies, and any other direct expense incurred;

B. All applicable indirect cost including, but not restricted to, building maintenance and operations, equipment maintenance, communications, printing and reproduction, and like distributed expenses;

C. Fixed assets recovery expenses consisting of depreciation on fixed assets, and additional charges, calculated on the current estimated cost of replacement, divided by the approximate life expectancy of the fixed asset, together with further additional charges to make up the depreciation not previously recovered and reserved in cash for the purpose of recovering such unrecovered depreciation over the remaining life of the asset;

D. General overhead, expressed as a percentage, distributing and charging the expenses of the city council and the offices and departments of the city administrator, finance, city clerk, city attorney, public works, building, and all other staff and support services.

(Ord. 258 (part), 1995)

Exceptions & meaning →

3.10.040 - Schedule of fees and service charges pursuant to Government Code Section 66016.¶

A. Frequency of Fee Reviews. The city administrator, director of finance and each affected department head, under the direction of the city administrator, shall review the following fees and charges on the schedule of frequency contained herein and shall recommend to the council the adjustments to the fee or charge schedule so as to recover the listed percentage of costs reasonably borne necessary to provide the listed regulation, products or services:

Regulation, Product or Service	Regulation, Product or Service	% of Costs Reasonably Borne to be Recovered	Review Schedule
Planning	Planning	Planning	Planning
1.	Address/parcel number check	100	Annual
2.	Zoning/map check	100	Annual
3.	Flood plain zone check	100	Annual
4.	Annexation	100	Annual
5.	Appeal	50	Annual
6.	Conditional use permit	100	Annual
7 .	Development agreement	100	Annual
8 .	Environmental impact report	100	Annual
9 .	Environmental impact review	100	Annual
10 .	General plan amendment	100	Annual
11 .	Home occupation permit	100	Annual
12 .	Lot line adjustment	100	Annual
13 .	Lot merger	100	Annual
14.	Mobile home park	100	Annual
15 .	Parcel map	100	Annual
16 .	Sign permit	100	Annual
17 .	Special use permit	100	Annual
18 .	Special plan (no land division)	100	Annual
19.	Special plan (with land division)	100	Annual
20.	Subdivision map—Final	100	Annual
21.	Subdivision map—Tentative	100	Annual
22.	Variance	100	Annual
23.	Zone change	100	Annual
24.	Specific plan area B development	100	3 years
Building	Building	Building	Building
1.	Advise/consult	100	Annual
2.	Pre-project planning	100	Annual
3.	Building permit fees	100	Annual
4.	Grading fees	100	Annual
5.	Reinspection	100	Annual
6.	Preliminary inspection	100	Annual
7 .	Electrical permit fees	100	Annual
8 .	Plumbing permit fees	100	Annual
9 .	Miscellaneous fees	100	Annual
10 .	Mobile home fees	100	Annual
11 .	Monthly building permit list	100	Annual
12 .	Strong motion instrumental program	100	Annual

B. Review of Fees and Service Charges. The review of the schedule of fees and service charges shall be completed in compliance with Section 66016 et seq. of the Government Code of the state of California.

C. Limitation of Actions to Review Fees and Charges. Any judicial action or proceeding to attack, review, set aside, void, or annul an ordinance or resolution or motion levying a new fee or service charge, or modifying or amending an existing fee or service charge, or modifying or amending an existing fee or service charge, duly enacted by the city, shall be pursuant to Section 66022 of the Government Code shall commence within one hundred twenty days of the effective date of the ordinance, resolution or motion.

D. Request for Audits to Determine Reasonableness of Fees or Charges Levied by the City. Pursuant to Section 66023 of the Government Code, any person may request an audit in order to determine whether any fee or charge levied by the city exceeds the amount reasonably necessary to cover the cost of any product or service provided by the city. If a person makes that request, the city council may retain an independent auditor to conduct an audit to determine whether the fee or charge is reasonable. Any costs incurred by the city in having an audit conducted by an independent auditor pursuant to this section may be recovered from the person who requested the audit.

(Ord. 278 § 2, 1998; Ord. 258 (part), 1995)

Exceptions & meaning →

3.10.050 - Schedule of fees and service charges not regulated by Government Code Section 66016, et seq.¶

A. Frequency of Fee Reviews. The city administrator, director of finance, and each affected city department head, under the direction of the city administrator, shall review the following fees and charges on the schedule of frequency contained herein and shall recommend to the council the adjustments to the fee or charge schedule so as to recover the listed percentage of costs reasonably borne necessary to provide the listed regulation, products or services:

Regulation, Product or Service	Regulation, Product or Service	% of Costs Reasonably Borne to be Recovered	Review Schedule
Animal Control	Animal Control	Animal Control	Animal Control
1.	Dead animal pickup	100	Annual
2.	Livestock permit	100	Annual
3.	Dog license	100	Annual
4.	Cat license	100	Annual
5.	Impound/owner pick-up	100	Annual
6.	Euthanasia/disposal	100	Annual
7 .	Owner release	100	Annual
8 .	DOA	100	Annual
City Clerk	City Clerk	City Clerk	City Clerk
1.	Research ord./res.	100	Annual
2.	Election initiative	100	Annual
3.	Business license fee	100	Annual
Finance/Utility Building	Finance/Utility Building	Finance/Utility Building	Finance/Utility Building
1.	Research utility bill history/charges	100	Annual
2.	Bond payoffs	100	Annual
3.	Utility bill changes	100	Annual
4.	Late notices for monthly shut-offs	100	Annual
5.	Property liens for nonpayment	100	Annual
Fire	Fire	Fire	Fire
1.	Inspections—Inside city	100	Annual
2.	Inspections—Outside city	100	3 years
3.	Accident wash downs	100	Annual
4.	Weed/vegetation abatement process	50	Annual
Landfill	Landfill	Landfill	Landfill
1.	Contractor debris drop off	100	Annual
2.	Open landfill gate	100	Annual
Administrative Services	Administrative Services	Administrative Services	Administrative Services
1.	Current file records	100	Annual
2.	Stored records	100	Annual
3.	Copies	100	Annual
4.	Printed agendas	100	Annual
5.	Minutes of meetings	100	Annual
6.	Dishonored checks	100	Annual
7 .	Late payment of invoices	100	Annual
8 .	Special payroll deductions	100	Annual
9 .	Notice of intent to circulate an initiative petition	100	Annual
10 .	Commercial special event app.	100	Annual
Pool	Pool	Pool	Pool
1.	Lifeguard	100	Annual
2.	Group lesson	100	Annual
3.	Private lesson	100	Annual
4.	Daily swim fees	100	Annual
5.	Pool rental	100	Annual
Recreation	Recreation	Recreation	Recreation
1.	Recreation class sign-up	100	Annual
Public Works	Public Works	Public Works	Public Works
1.	Repair vandalism	100	Annual
2.	Supv. Resident use of water from hydrant	100	Annual
3.	Encroachment permit and inspection	100	Annual
4.	Grading permit and inspection	100	Annual
5.	Improvement permit and inspection	100	Annual
Sewer	Sewer	Sewer	Sewer
1.	Clean private sewer lines	100	Annual
2.	Locate line for realtor	100	Annual
Water	Water	Water	Water
1.	Shut off private line	100	Annual
2.	Locate line for realtor	100	Annual

B. Public Hearing. Prior to any increase in any fee or service charge as set forth above, the city council shall hold at least one public hearing, at which oral or written communications can be made, as part of a regularly scheduled meeting.

C. Notice.

Notice of the time and place of such meeting, including a general explanation of the matter to be considered, and the statement that the data required by subsection D of this section is available, shall be mailed at least fourteen days prior to the meeting to any interested party who files a written request with the city clerk for mailed notice of the meeting on new or increased fees or services charges.
Any written request for such mailed notices shall be valid for one year from the date on which it is filed unless a renewal request is filed.
Renewal requests for such mailed notices shall be filed on or before April 1 of each year.
Such notice shall also be published in accordance with Section 6062a of the Government Code.
The city council shall establish a reasonable annual charge for sending such notices based on the estimated cost of providing such a service.

D. Data Made Available to the Public. At least ten days prior to the meeting, the city clerk shall make available to the public, data indicating the amount of cost, or estimated cost, required to provide the service for which the fee or service charge is levied and the revenue sources anticipated to provide the service, including general fund revenues.

E. Revenues in Excess of Fees. Unless there has been voter approval, as prescribed by Sections 66014 or 66013 of the Government Code, all fees or service charges set pursuant to this section for any of the regulations, products or services as set forth above shall not exceed the actual cost to the city for providing the same. In the event, however, the fees or service charges create revenues in excess of actual cost, those revenues shall be used to reduce the fee or service charge creating the excess.

F. Action by the City Council. Upon reviewing the data required by subsection D of this section and duly considering all oral and written communications presented during the public hearing required by subsection B of this section, the city council, at the conclusion of such hearing shall either confirm, modify or reject any adjustment recommended by the city administrator of a fee or service charge as set forth above.

G. Additional Cost Incurred. Any costs incurred by the city in conducting the meeting, or meetings, required pursuant to this section may be recovered from fees charged for the services which were the subject of the meeting.

(Ord. 258 (part), 1995)

Exceptions & meaning →

3.10.060 - Repealer.¶

All ordinances, resolutions and sections of this code which are contrary to this chapter, whether in whole or in part, are repealed and/or rescinded to the extent of any conflict herewith. The procedures or the establishment of fees and charges adopted by this chapter shall supersede all previously established procedures for the same regulations, products or services, and all such previous procedures are repealed.

(Ord. 258 (part), 1995)

Exceptions & meaning →

3.10.070 - Validity.¶

If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or word of the ordinance codified in this chapter is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by the decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of the ordinance. The city council declares that it would have passed the ordinance and each and every section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or work not declared invalid or unconstitutional.

(Ord. 258 (part), 1995)

Exceptions & meaning →