Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Master Fee Schedule topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council rejects proposed master-fee increases, creating $350,000 budget shortfall
Summary
A proposed set of fee increases in the city’s master fee schedule (Order 6007072025) failed after heated council debate; councilors asked staff to return with a breakdown and the city manager was directed to identify budget cuts to cover an estimated $350,000 shortfall.
The Auburn City Council voted down proposed revenue changes to the city’s master fee schedule (Order 6007072025) at its July 7 meeting, a move councilors and staff said will create a $350,000 gap in the current fiscal-year budget.
The fee package — recommended by an ad hoc fees committee and carried into the FY26 budget — aimed to align permit and service fees with actual city costs. The proposal would have increased a variety of building and administrative fees already used in the adopted budget numbers; council debate focused on the size and distribution of increases.
Councilors and staff discussed specific examples at length. Councilor Milks and others noted large hikes for residential permits: a previously $25 permit for additions would rise by a per-square-foot charge that, depending on size, could add several hundred dollars; staff said a 600-square-foot addition could see the permit increase from $25 to roughly $180 once new rates are applied. City staff and the mayor said prior councils had sharply reduced fees to spur development and that the proposed increases were intended to restore fees closer to the actual cost of inspections and processing.
After prolonged discussion, a motion to adopt the fee changes failed. Councilors and the city manager then discussed next steps: the manager said he would return at the next meeting with the program-by-program breakdown showing which budgeted positions and services were tied to the anticipated fee revenue and with options to reduce FY26 spending to cover the estimated $350,000 shortfall. Several councilors asked that parking-related fee changes be separated out in the breakdown so the council could evaluate the impacts by department (parks and rec, code enforcement, parking operations).
Mayor Jeff Hyman said the city would re-open the budget in two weeks if no councilor made a floor amendment to replace the lost revenue; staff said the $350,000 figure reflected revenue booked in the adopted budget that depended on the adopted fee schedule. No new fee rates were adopted on July 7.
