DATE: October 8, 2019
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Steven E. White, Director
Department of Public Works and Planning
SUBJECT: Amendment to Master Schedule of Fees - Public Works and Planning
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
Conduct second hearing on and adopt an Ordinance amending the Master Schedule of Fees, Charges and Recovered Costs Ordinance by amending Sections 1000 - Computer Services (EMIS); 1500 - Parks and Recreation; and 2200 - Public Works; and waive reading of the Ordinance in its entirety.
REPORT
Approval of the recommended actions would revise existing fees in the Master Schedule of Fees, Charges, and Recovered Costs (MSF) Sections 1000, 1500, and 2200 based on actual Department of Public Works and Planning costs. The fees are used to reimburse Department staff costs for projects requested by County departments and outside public agencies. In addition, Encroachment Inspection Fees descriptions would be expanded to include utility appurtenances, excavation for bell hole, monitoring well, soil boring or similar without changing the fees. This item is countywide.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
Your Board may choose not to amend the MSF Ordinance and direct staff to use current fees or propose alternative fees, which may not recover 100% of departmental staff costs. Encroachment Inspection Fees descriptions would remain unchanged.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no increase in Net County Cost associated with the recommended actions. It is anticipated that with the fee rate amendments, the Department will ensure 100% cost recovery for salaries, benefits, and indirect costs. The proposed change to Encroachment Inspection Fees are cost neutral or no cost.
DISCUSSION:
The proposed fee rate changes ensure proper cost recovery for salary and benefits and indirect costs and have been reviewed and recommended for update in the MSF by the Auditor-Controller/Treasurer-Tax Collector to ensure 100% cost recovery.
Subsection 1001 - Staff Time under Section 1000 - Computer Services - EMIS, sets forth the hourly rate for requests from outside of the County for computer related services including parcel checks, map checks, and similar. The proposed increase in the hourly rate is due to negotiated salary increases. The current and proposed fee rates are included in Attachment A.
Attachment B includes the current and proposed fee rate changes to Subsection 1509 - Parks Staff under Section 1500 - Parks and Recreation. The hourly rates are used to charge outside public agencies and to estimate work for county departments for grant funded projects.
Attachment C includes the current and proposed fee rate changes to Subsections 2201 - Inspection Services. The Encroachment Inspection Fees would expand to delineate work that is commonly permitted, will not change the fees, and will add clarifying descriptions to work that is commonly permitted such as:
• 11. Utility appurtenances such as poles, splice boxes, vaults, pedestals, cabinets or similar;
• 12. Excavation for Bell Hole; and
• 13. Monitoring Well, Soil Boring, or similar
The commonly permitted work is currently being charged under Subsection 2201(a)(3a) - “All Excavations within Pavement Area - Less than or equal to 100 Linear Ft.”, which is not specific enough to accurately describe the actual work being permitted.
Additionally, Attachment C includes the current and proposed fee rate changes to Subsections 2207 - Capital Projects, 2208 - Admin Services - Resources, and 2209 - Development Services under Section 2200 - Public Works, which specify the hourly rate fees applied to projects requested by outside agencies, projects using tax-exempt bonds, and other special grant funded county department projects. Changes in some of the rates stem from changes to staffing composition within each job classification and are primarily due to negotiated salary increases and benefit costs.
The recommended rates have been reviewed by the Auditor-Controller/Treasurer-Tax Collector. If adopted by your Board, the recommended rates will take effect 30 days after today’s hearing.
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
Attachments A-C
Ordinance
CAO ANALYST:
Sonia M. De La Rosa