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Council adopts updated master fee schedule after Willdan study; average fee increases proposed for several departments
Summary
Willdan Financial presented a citywide user-fee study and the council adopted the updated master fee schedule after a public hearing; staff said changes align fees with full cost calculations and recommended periodic inflation adjustments between comprehensive studies.
El Cerrito City Council held a public hearing on May 20 and adopted an updated master fee schedule after a Willdan Financial user-fee and cost-allocation study that examined more than 500 user fees across departments.
Willdan presented the methodology: calculate fully burdened hourly rates (salaries, benefits, central overhead), estimate time-per-service and apply those rates to derive full cost of each fee. The study found a mix of underfunding and overfunding across departments. Staff recommended updates ranging from modest increases in recreation fees to larger adjustments in public works and planning, where many fees were below full cost.
Key facts: Willdan recommended changes to a subset of fees (dozens to hundreds across different categories). The building permit program was reported to be about 97% cost-recovery overall; the study recommended a small increase to align with full cost. Recreation cost recovery was around 51%, and staff noted recreation typically remains subsidized for community benefits. The council voted to approve the fee schedule and adopted the updated master fee resolution after a public hearing with no speakers.
Ending: Staff and consultants recommended re-running the comprehensive analysis every five years and applying a CPI or salary-based inflator in intervening years to keep fees aligned with costs; the council approved the master fee schedule by motion.
