Board approves FY 2025–26 consolidated fee schedule, orders July 1 effective date

The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors on March 25 approved a consolidated fee schedule for fiscal year 2025–26, adopting hundreds of departmental fee changes that county staff said are intended mainly to better align user charges with the cost of providing specific services. The fee changes will take effect July 1 unless the board acts otherwise.

County budget staff presented the packet as a single consolidated hearing to increase transparency and allow departments to use fee approvals in the coming year’s budget. Peter Brueland of the CEO’s operations and budget team told the board the packet contains about 1,000 discrete fee lines because many fees are tiered by facility size or service level. He said more than 80% of fees rise by less than 4% and that the county’s average “cost-of-doing-business” number this year was roughly 3%.

Why it matters: Fees pay for services used by specific customers rather than general tax-supported services; increasing fees shifts some program costs to users and can reduce general-fund subsidies. Brueland said the packet’s estimated revenue if fee volumes match projections is about $2.6…