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Washington County unveils FY26 fee schedule changes; staff say fees cover about 2% of county resources
Summary
County finance staff reviewed the proposed FY26 fee schedule: roughly 674 fee changes (most increases), 52 new fees, and an estimated total fee revenue portfolio of about $45 million across funds; commissioners asked for clearer foldouts and department‑level mapping to budget pages.
Washington County interim Chief Financial Officer John Steyer and budget analyst Chris Weber presented the proposed fiscal year 2026 county fee schedule during the work session, describing a broad review and numerous adjustments across departments.
Staff said the county’s portfolio of fees generates roughly $45 million annually across funds; fees represent about 2% of the county’s total resources. The FY26 proposal includes approximately 674 fee changes (about 665 increases), 52 new fees and several deletions and replacements. Departments reviewed approximately 20% of fees each year as part of a rotating five‑year review; this year roughly half of all fees were reviewed and adjusted, staff said.
Major highlights by department included: building services and development review (large share of fee activity, with many fees increased to achieve full cost recovery or to maintain service‑level timelines); public health (percent increases across restaurant, pool and subsurface fees, and a new public health strategy fee of $402.50 tied to enforcement of Ordinance 878 prohibiting flavored tobacco sales and related provisions); animal services (adoption and boarding fee increases but still generally below private sector comparators); parks (new cancellation rules that shift refunds toward percentages of rental fees and a new late payment penalty of 10% for payments 30 days past due); and a new set of facilities division fees (conference use, permit of entry, grounds use and related charges) to recover staff time and utility costs for external use of county property.
Commissioners asked for more accessible, 11x17 tables that map fees to department budget pages and fund sources so they can review impacts during upcoming budget committee work. Staff committed to provide more detailed roll‑ups by fund and to identify the distribution of fee revenues across funds and line items; they also said fees are adopted as part of the formal budget adoption process on June 17. Commissioners discussed the balance between moving to full cost recovery and impacts on small businesses and residents; staff noted some fees are capped by statute (for example, passport fees) and that some enterprise funds rely on reserves for operations.
No formal board vote to adopt the fee schedule occurred at this session; staff will return with the formal adoption package as part of the budget process.
