DATE: November 14, 2017
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Brandi Orth, County Clerk/Registrar of Voters
SUBJECT: Amendment to Master Schedule of Fees - County Clerk/Registrar of Voters
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
1. Conduct first hearing to amend the Fresno County Master Schedule of Fees, Charges and Recovered Costs Ordinance by amending Subsections 802, 803, and 805 and adds Subsections 809, 810 and 811 to Section 800 - County Clerk/Registrar of Voters; waive reading of the Ordinance in its entirety; and set second hearing for December 5, 2017;
2. Designate County Counsel to prepare a fair and adequate summary of the proposed Ordinance; and
3. Direct the Clerk to the Board to post and publish the required summary in accordance with Government Code Section 25124(b)(1).
REPORT
Approval of the recommended actions would revise the existing Master Schedule of Fees, Charges, and Recovered Costs based on the County Clerk/Registrar of Voters costs for FY 2017-18. Amendments to Subsections 802, 803, and 805 update current rates to reflect changes in technology and allow the County Clerk/Registrar of Voters Office to recover the salary and benefits costs, direct costs, and indirect cost rate for Data Requests and Election Maps, updates the rate for Searching Records or Files, as set by the State. Subsections 809, 810, and 811 will be added for Passport Photos and Expedited Stamps, Photocopies, and Notary Journal Surrender fees.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
Your Board may direct staff to use current fees or propose alternative fees which may not recover 100% of costs.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no increase in Net County Cost associated with the recommended actions. It is anticipated that with the proposed fees, the County Clerk/Registrar of Voters Office will ensure full cost recovery for the salary and benefits costs, allowable indirect costs (ICRP 109% of direct salaries only), and direct materials costs for each of the rates in Subsections 802, 803, 809 (a), 810, and 811. The rate in Subsection 805 is set by the State and 809(b) is set by the US Postal Service.
DISCUSSION:
Recommended updates to the Master Schedule of Fees for Section 800 - County Clerk/Registrar of Voters are detailed in Attachment A. The Department conducted a comprehensive review of the Master Schedule of Fees for County Clerk/Registrar of Voters to identify any fees that are no longer applicable, verify and provide updated references for each fee, update fees that are outdated, and propose new fees for services that are optional, yet provide a benefit to customers.
The fees in Subsections 801, 804 and 806 are not changing (see Attachment B); however, the reference for each will be added. Subsections 802 and 803 pertain to data requests and election maps. Improvements in technology since the schedules were adopted in 1994 have rendered the existing terminology and fee structure obsolete. These subsections have been completely re-written to replace titles and fees that reflect current operations.
The fee for Searching Records or Files in Subsection 805 is set by the State. The fee will increase from $1.75 to $5.00 and reflects a 286% increase.
Subsection 809 pertains to Passport Services. Beginning May 6, 1997, your Board has supported the County Clerk’s provision of passport services to the general public pursuant to yearly Federal re-certification as a Passport Acceptance Facility. Currently, customers are required to bring their completed passport applications and regulation-sized passport photos to the Clerk’s office for processing. If the customer requests expedited processing, they must purchase the appropriate postage amount from the post office and provide the pre-paid stamped envelope to the County Clerk’s office for mailing. Customers frequently return to the office multiple times to complete their passport applications if they are missing the photo or decide to request expedited processing. The recommended Subsection 809(a) will allow the County Clerk to improve the customer experience with the option of having their passport photos taken while at the Clerk’s office at the rate of $6.00 per photo. This reflects recovery of the actual cost to the Clerk to produce the photo. Subsection 809(b) will enable the County Clerk to purchase the expedited stamp from the US Postal Service in advance (currently $23.75) and pass on the cost of the postage to the customer.
The recommended Subsection 810 will add a new Photocopy fee of $0.50 per page for preparing copies of any record, proceeding, or paper on file in the County Clerk’s Office. This fee differs from the Countywide Photocopy Charge of $0.10 per copy covered by Subsection 3401 of the County’s adopted Master Schedule of Fees, which specifically excludes the County Clerk (G.C. 26831).
The recommended Subsection 811 will add a new Notary Journal Surrender fee of $10.00 for journals surrendered at one time. As outlined in G.C. 8209, a Notary is required to surrender to the County Clerk their “Journals” under the circumstances listed in the statute. Pursuant to G. C. 26850 and 54985, the Board may increase or decrease the County Clerk’s $2.25 fee for “filing and indexing” of papers for which a fee/charge is not elsewhere provided according to the actual amount necessary to “recover the cost of providing any product or service . . .” The rate ($10.00) was determined based on a time study. After ten years of storage, the County Clerk may destroy the notarial records upon court order.
The proposed fees ensure proper cost recovery and have been reviewed by the Auditor-Controller/Treasurer-Tax Collector. Following Board approval of the second hearing, which is scheduled to take place on December 5, 2017, the effective date of the fees will be January 4, 2018.
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
MSF FY 2017-18 Attachment A
MSF FY 2017-18 Attachment B
MSF FY 2017-18 Ordinance
MSF FY 2017-18 Exhibit A
On file with Clerk - Summary of Ordinance
CAO ANALYST:
Ron Alexander