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