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sometimes up to 18 months in advance of when those services are provided so there is not always <br />direct connection between fees generated and service costs within the same fiscal year. She also noted <br />that the Finance Committee requested that some fees be increased over what was originally <br />recommended by staff in an attempt to increase cost recovery. Pleasanton currently has no fee for <br />onsite improvements for private development, which going forward would be billed at 3% of the value of <br />improvement. As proposed, the city's current final map review fees would increase from $600 plus $50 <br />per lot to $4,500 plus $30 per lot. While there is no 5-city average due to time and materials based <br />fees, the City of Fremont collects an initial deposit of $15,000 for the same service. <br />The total cost of Building and Safety fee related services, including indirect costs and fees, totaled just <br />under $5 million in FY 2014 -15. As already mentioned, staff is proposing to increase cost recovery from <br />75% to 100 %. As fees are based on the cost valuation of a project, new construction valuation tables <br />would be annually adjusted using the CCI to stay abreast of changes in construction pricing. However, <br />new construction only represents about 18% of the permits issued today versus the 25% when the <br />study was prepared. All other permits for additions and renovations are based on the applicant's <br />valuation, despite the interpretive nature of that valuation and the fact that some projects require the <br />same number of site visits regardless of the stated value. Staff is therefore proposing to increase the <br />minimum fee from $23.50 to $85 and to implement a flat fee for 4 types of permits impacting <br />homeowners: kitchen remodels, bathroom remodels, reroofing and swimming pools. Electrical, <br />plumbing and mechanical permit surcharges would be based on a percentage of the building permit fee <br />as opposed to the current method of counting actual fixtures. Staff is also proposing the implementation <br />of new technology fee which will help to maintain and upgrade the permit center computer hardware <br />and software and to support the archiving of property documents and permits. Under the proposed fee <br />increases, building and safety fees on a new 2,000 square foot house would increase from <br />approximately $5,251 to $6,042. The 5 -city fee average is $6,426. <br />Councilmember Pentin remarked that Walnut Creek seemed to be consistently more expensive than <br />the other cities used for comparative purposes and thought it might be worthwhile to see an average <br />excluding this. <br />Ms. Wagner explained that Walnut Creek is quite comparable in terms of how costs are allocated <br />amongst departments. She also pointed out that Walnut Creek underwent this same type of fee study <br />several years ago, which could explain why their fees are higher than those cities who have not. <br />Ms. Wagner stated that staff met with the Financial Audit Committee several times prior to bring this to <br />the Council on April 7, 2015. At that time, the Council directed the staff to present the study to the <br />Economic Vitality Committee (May 20, 2015) and the Economic Development and Govemment <br />Relations Committee of the Chamber of Commerce (April 28, 2015). For the most part, both <br />committees acknowledged that the proposed fee schedule was reasonable considering the length of <br />time since the last increase. There was some philosophical opposition to the idea that the city should <br />achieve 100% cost recovery for development services, given that development generates ample <br />revenues and other benefits to the city. They also requested more focus on the implementing the 8 <br />remaining recommendations of the CSRT, which the City Manager's office has assured they would <br />continue to do. <br />Councilmember Pentin asked and Mr. Fialho confirmed that acknowledgement of the staff report and <br />attachments, which outline the remaining CSRT recommendations, serves as the Council's tacit <br />approval that these issues will be worked on and implemented over the next 12 months. <br />Mayor Thome requested clarification on the implementation of the fee schedule, pending the zoning <br />code update. <br />Mr. Fialho stated that the fee schedule would be implemented from the date of adoption, which is <br />August 17, 2015. As proposed, the Administrative CUP fee would not be assessed until completion of <br />City Council Minutes Page 6 of 18 June 16, 2015 <br />