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Council adopts citywide fees and development impact‑fee adjustments for FY 2025–26
Summary
Salinas council approved a citywide schedule of fees indexed to inflation for FY 2025–26 and adopted a 1.6% increase to development impact fees based on the ENR construction cost index; staff will bring a broader fee study in a future cycle.
The Salinas City Council on May 6 approved two sets of fee changes that will take effect July 1, 2025: a citywide schedule of fees and a development impact‑fee adjustment.
City finance staff recommended indexing most user fees to the consumer price index (CPI) and the council approved a general CPI‑based increase after a review of fee history. Staff told the council the finance committee recommended a 2.8% CPI increase and that outreach to business and nonprofit stakeholders produced no formal objections. Council adopted the fee resolution authorizing Adjustments and additions to the citywide schedule of fees and service charges effective July 1.
Separately, the council approved an annual adjustment to development impact fees (fees charged on new development to fund related infrastructure) of 1.6% for FY 2025–26. City staff said the engineering news‑record (ENR) construction cost index rose 1.6% year over year and the municipal code permits an annual adjustment tied to that index. Staff presented an accounting summary showing an overall development impact fee fund balance of roughly $6.1 million through February 2025 and described the fees as required to fund capital improvements for growth rather than existing deficiencies.
The council and staff noted a larger policy issue: Salinas has not completed a full cost‑recovery fee study in several years (the last comprehensive fee study was 2015), and staff said a detailed fee study is due; council asked staff to bring a study on a reasonable timeline. Councilmember Jose Barajas asked whether fees could be re‑structured (for example moving residential assessments from a per‑unit to a per‑square‑foot basis) to better align incentives for housing types; council directed staff to evaluate alternate methodologies for residential fees and report back.
Ending: Council adopted the resolutions to implement the CPI‑indexed citywide fees and the ENR‑based 1.6% development impact fee increase, and directed staff to bring a full fee study and analysis of alternative residential fee methodologies.
