Stanton council adopts broad master fee schedule update after lengthy public hearing

Stanton — The City Council on Jan. 14 adopted a comprehensive update to the city’s master fee schedule, a resolution implementing fees developed from a consultant study of department costs and a plan to apply an annual consumer price index adjustment beginning July 1, 2025.

The vote completed a public hearing that featured a detailed presentation by consultant Tony Thrasher of Willdan, comments from Southern California Gas Company and a written letter from the Building Industry Association of Southern California, Orange County chapter. Council Member Taylor moved the resolution; Mayor Pro Tem Torres seconded. The measure passed on a 5-0 roll call.

Thrasher told the council the fee study began in 2021 and draws on the city’s fiscal 2024 adopted budget to calculate operational cost recovery. “We calculate fully burdened hourly rates for all staff of the city so that we can then apply those as needed based off of the time estimates we give on a fee basis,” he said during the presentation. Willdan recommended increasing many development-related fees toward full cost recovery while keeping community services fees partially subsidized.

Why it matters: The council had not completed a comprehensive fee update since 2018 and contracted Willdan to produce an overhead allocation plan and user-fee study. Updating fees affects how much of the cost to deliver services the city recovers from users rather than from general-fund taxpayers. The council also approved a provision in the resolution to implement an annual inflation adjustment to the schedule starting July 1, 2025, to keep fees aligned with rising costs.

Key details from the study and hearing: The consultant said the study analyzed administrative, community development, building and safety, public works, public safety and community services fees using time-based cost modeling and indirect overhead allocation. Examples offered during the meeting included a planning service (planned development permit) Willdan estimated would cost $9,608 compared with the city’s current fee of $3,090 for that line item. Thrasher recommended maintaining some fees as deposits or flat fees where third-party or variable costs make precise prebilling impractical.

Southern California Gas Company’s public affairs manager, Clarissa Serpis, requested more time to review several new fees, including an after-the-fact penalty for work without a permit and a new public-right-of-way improvement agreement fee. “Safety and security of our infrastructure is our top priority, and during natural gas emergencies it requires immediate repair,” Serpis said, asking the council to delay action so SoCalGas could meet with staff. City staff responded that local utilities had received advance notice and said public works staff is prepared to accommodate emergency repairs and meet with utilities about indemnity concerns.

The Building Industry Association’s senior vice president, Adam Wood, submitted a written comment urging analysis of the proposed fee increases’ effect on housing feasibility and citing Government Code section 65585. City staff replied in the hearing that Government Code section 65585 does not require preapproval of generally applicable fee schedule updates by the California Department of Housing and Community Development.

What the resolution does: The resolution adopts the updated fee schedule as proposed in the Willdan study (as described in staff materials), includes the recommended fee lines and classifications (flat fee, base fee plus direct cost, deposit-based), and directs annual CPI adjustments beginning 07/01/2025. Staff told the council revenue projections are not included in the resolution because usage of some new fees is unknown; the resolution applies the changes to current fee lines as analyzed.

What was not decided: Several utilities asked for follow-up meetings to review particular fee lines; staff said it can return with changes if a specific fee must be modified after additional consultation. The council did not modify the adopted schedule at the meeting.

Looking ahead: The resolution takes effect as adopted by the council; staff and the consultant recommended a comprehensive fee study every five years and annual inflators in intervening years to maintain alignment with costs.