Calaveras supervisors direct Prop. 218 notice on commercial parcel fee after consultant recommends $277.30-per-ERU rate

The Calaveras County Board of Supervisors on May 6 heard a presentation from consultant Raftelis and county staff on a commercial-parcel fee study and directed Integrated Waste Management to mail Proposition 218 notices for a public hearing on or about June 25, 2025, to consider a commercial parcel fee increase.

The study, prepared as a follow-up to the 2024 cost-of-service analysis, recommends apportioning commercial fees using equivalent residential units (ERUs) and applying a $277.30-per-ERU rate adopted in 2024. Consultant Terry Boveri of Raftelis told the board the recommended commercial fee schedule, if fully applied, would generate approximately $1,880,000 in additional annual revenue and would allow the county to implement the 2024 cost-of-service findings.

Why it matters: County staff and the consultant told supervisors the county system has been underfunded for decades and that without new revenue the county risks using reserves set aside for landfill maintenance and expansion. County staff said the parcel fee had not been adjusted in about 32 years and that the recommended commercial fees are intended to ensure full cost recovery for the solid-waste system.

Study methodology and numbers

Raftelis described a multi-step method that: grouped assessor land-use codes into manageable commercial…