City of Culver City, California
Agenda Item Report
Meeting Date: 5/09/2011 Item Number: PH-1
CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM: PUBLIC HEARING - Adoption of a Resolution
Establishing and Amending Various Fees and Charges for Services Provided by
the City and Rescinding Prior Fee Resolution No. 2010-R016 and Portions of
Resolution Nos. 2000-R074 and 2003-R023.
Contact Person/Dept.: Nick Kimball,
Finance Department
Phone Number: 310-253-6013
Fiscal Impact: Yes [X] No [] General Fund: Yes [X] No []
Public Hearing: [X] Action Item: [] Attachments: [X]
Commission Action Required: Yes [] No [X] Date: _______________
Public Notification: (Email) Agenda and Meetings – City Council (05/04/11); (Newspaper)
Culver City News (04/21/11); (US Mail) Building Industry Association of Southern
California, Southern California Edison, The Gas Company (04/14/11) and Affected
Newspaper Rack Owners (04/18/11); (City Hall) Notice placed on public counters and
City’s website (beginning 04/18/11).
Department Approval:
Jeff Muir
City Attorney Approval:
Carol Schwab (by H. Baker) (05/04/11)
Chief Financial Officer Approval:
Jeff Muir (by M. Noller) (05/04/11)
City Manager Approval:
John M. Nachbar (05/04/11)
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt a resolution establishing and
amending various fees and charges for services provided by the City and rescinding
(in whole or in part) certain prior fee resolutions.
PROCEDURE:
1. Mayor seeks motion from the City Council to receive and file the affidavits of
publication and posting of notices and correspondence received in response to
the public hearing notices; and,
2. Mayor calls for a staff report and the City Council poses questions to staff as
desired;
3. Mayor seeks motion to open the public hearing;
4. Mayor seeks motion to close the public hearing after all public testimony has
been presented; and,
5. City Council discusses the item and arrives at its decision.
City of Culver City, California
Agenda Item Report
BACKGROUND:
In Fiscal Year 2006/2007 the City hired a consultant to conduct a comprehensive fee
study. Based on the information provided by the fee study, staff worked with a City
Council subcommittee to develop a cost recovery policy and five-year
implementation schedule for each affected division. At the end of the five year
implementation period (i.e. Fiscal Year 2012/2013), the City may consider
conducting a new fee study.
On June 23, 2008, the City Council approved a cost recovery policy and
implementation schedule for fees and charges, which is provided in the table below
for City Council’s reference:
DISCUSSION:
Over the last few years, staff has adjusted fees to meet the overall cost recovery
levels adopted by City Council. Since there have only been minimal, if any, changes
to the cost basis over the last year, staff is recommending no change to a vast
majority of the fees for Fiscal Year 2011/2012. Staff is recommending a few
changes to the fee schedule to better reflect operational realities. The changes
being proposed for Fiscal Year 2011/2012 include:
Animal Care and Control Fees:
Animal Care and Control is proposing a number of new fees to help offset the
cost of providing a quality animal care and control program. The purpose of
these fees is to recover some of the cost of providing these particular services
from the user:
1. Cat Trap Rental Fee: $25/week for residents to rent a cat trap
Department/Division
Current
Cost Recovery
FY 2011-12
Proposed
Cost Recovery
Cost Recovery
Goal per Policy
Building & Safety
95% 95% 95%
Engineering: Preferential
Parking
32% 32% 32%
Engineering:
Other Fees
85% 85% 85%
Planning
85% 85% 85%
PR&CS: Recreation
49% 50% 50%
Fire
72% 72% 72%
Police
90% 90% 90% City of Culver City, California
Agenda Item Report
2. Deceased Animal Disposal: This fee will be charged to the owner and is
intended to offset some of the cost of the Animal Control Officer removal and
disposition of deceased animals, including transportation to spcaLA
Hawthorne and the resulting processing and cleaning.
3. Impound fees for dogs and cats: Upon return of the animal, this will be
charged to owners whose dog or cat has been impounded.
4. Potentially Dangerous or Vicious Dog Investigation fee: Investigations of
potentially dangerous or vicious dogs are extremely detailed and time
consuming. This fee would be charged to the owner if the investigation
results in a determination that the dog is dangerous or vicious.
Additionally, slight changes to the dog and cat licensing fees are being
recommended to comply with state law.
Building Permits:
Building Permit Fees are calculated based on the size of a proposed project.
Since fees are based on averages, smaller projects tend to pay a little more than
the average and larger projects tend to pay a little less than the average. Staff is
proposing slightly reworking the Building Permit fees by reducing fees for smaller
projects and increasing fees for larger projects. In effect, the proposed fees
would slightly increase the subsidy for smaller projects and slightly decrease the
subsidy to larger projects. Overall, this should not have a negative impact on
Building Permit revenues. In fact, it may increase revenue by increasing fees
generated from larger projects.
Aquatics Fees:
There are a number of new Aquatics fee categories being proposed, including an
Adult-Student rate to attract more college students to the Plunge and fees for
Aquatics Exercise classes.
Park Permit Fees:
Non-profit Resident and Non-Profit Non-resident rate categories are proposed to
be added to the Outdoor Facility permit.
Filming in the Parks:
Currently, a flat permit fee is charged for filming in the City’s parks regardless of
the size of the shoot. Staff is recommending a new fee structure that is based on
the size of the crew for the film shoot. This new fee structure will better reflect
the impact on the City’s parks as smaller shoots with smaller crews will pay less
per hour than larger film shoots with larger crews. Larger shoots have a bigger
impact on the condition of the park and, therefore, should pay more for use of the
park than smaller less impactful film shoots. City of Culver City, California
Agenda Item Report
Recreation:
A number of fees have been removed for activities that are no longer provided by
the City, such as Advertising in the print version of Culver City Living, Enrichment
Classes, Special Event fees, and Adult Sports Programs.
Police:
The Police Department is proposing adding a few new categories to the existing
Vehicle Impound, Storage, and Release fees to more accurately reflect the costs
for tending to and processing vehicles that the City orders be impounded or
stored.
Public Works Department - Engineering & Maintenance Operations Fees:
The Public Works Department is proposing a new annual fee for use of the
Public Right of Way for news racks located in the City. The fee being proposed
is consistent with fees in surrounding jurisdictions.
The Public Works Department is also proposing a new fee category for major
street closures for special events. The proposed fees will be charged using the
hourly rates for the Traffic Plan review and Inspection, which is consistent with
current Engineering fees.
Should the City Council adopt the proposed resolution, all fees in the proposed
resolution will become effective on Monday, July 11, 2011.
Other Post Employment Benefits (OPEB) – On June 22, 2009, the City Council
amended City Council Policy 5002 – Financial Policies (Attachment 2) – to add the
following language:
“…A percentage of certain fee revenues, as determined by City Council
Resolution, shall be earmarked and set aside in an irrevocable trust for
post employment benefits. After the fiscal year has ended, the earmark
percentage will be applied to the actual fee revenues received during
the respective fiscal year…”
Staff calculated the percentage increase necessary to fully fund OPEB costs for
current General Fund employees as 4.5%. To maintain consistency with
implementing increases over time to ease the financial burden, City Council
approved phasing in the full cost over a three year period, i.e. 1.5% of actual fee
revenues in 2009-10, 3.0% in 2010-11, and 4.5% in 2011-12 will be earmarked to
pre-fund the OPEB obligation.
City of Culver City, California
Agenda Item Report
The City Council also approved applying the OPEB earmark to the fee receipts in
the following General Fund divisions/departments only: Building Safety, Engineering
(excluding Preferential Parking), Fire, Planning, and Police. The OPEB earmark is
not applied to PRCS facility rental charges or Recreation program fees because
facility rental fees are driven more by market rental rates than staff costs, and the
City Council has made a policy decision to substantially subsidize recreation
programs.
FISCAL ANALYSIS:
User Fees & Charges
Based on current economic forecasts, departments expect to experience some
growth in fee based activity next fiscal year, following a significant decrease in fee
activity in prior fiscal years. Most of the City’s major fee revenues are derived from
construction and development related activities, which have been among the
industries hardest hit over the last few years. Therefore, fee revenues are expected
to continue to grow slowly as the economy begins to recover.
OPEB
As previously mentioned in this and other reports to City Council, the City was
required to report the OPEB liability on the audited financial statements as of
06/30/09. There is no legal funding requirement at this time; however, as a best
financial management practice, the City has begun identifying sources of funding to
start setting aside funds wherever possible. The tables below shows the estimated
amount that may be earmarked in Fiscal Year 2010/2011 based on estimated
receipts. Although this is a small amount in relation to the size of the City’s OPEB
liability, as the economy begins to recover, this amount should grow. Please note
that the below amounts are only estimates. The actual earmark will be determined
at year-end based on actual revenues.
Estimated Fiscal Year 2010/2011 Fee Receipts:
Building Safety: $1,700,000
Engineering: 350,000
Fire: 480,000
Planning: 350,000
Police: 140,000
TOTAL: $3,020,000
3.0% OPEB Earmark = $90,600
4.5% OPEB Earmark = $135,900 (based on estimated Fiscal Year 2010/2011
receipts)
City of Culver City, California
Agenda Item Report
In January 2011, the City Council approved entering into an agreement with PFM
Asset Management, LLC to establish an OPEB Trust. Staff is currently working with
PFM to establish the Trust. An initial deposit, including the amount earmarked from
prior year fee receipts, will be made once the Trust is established.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Proposed Resolution 2011-R__ with Exhibits A – J (fee schedule)
MOTIONS:
That the City Council:
Adopt a resolution establishing and amending various fees and charges for
services provided by the City and rescinding prior fee Resolution No. 2010-R016
and rescinding portions of Resolution Nos. 2000-R074, and 2003-R020.
MEETING DATE: 5/09/11
AGENDA ITEM: Public Hearing for 1) Adoption of a Resolution Establishing and
Amending Various Fees and Charges for Services Provided by the
City and Rescinding Prior Fee Resolution No. 2010-R016, and 2)
Rescinding Portions of Resolution Nos. 2000-R074 and 2003-R023.
ATTACHMENTS
Pages
1. Proposed Resolution 2011-R__ with Exhibits A – J (fee schedule) 1 - 90