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Lake Forest council adopts annual fee updates; adds commercial vending and appeal fees
Summary
The council approved a routine master fee schedule update, applying a 3.3% CPI adjustment where cost‑recovery targets exist, adding an $85 appeal hearing fee and a $189 commercial vending vehicle permit (renewal $95). The changes take effect July 1, 2025.
The Lake Forest City Council adopted a resolution on April 15 updating the city's master schedule of fees and charges. The updates are routine, include a 3.3% consumer price index adjustment for fee categories that target cost recovery, and take effect July 1, 2025.
Amy Lewis, assistant director of finance, told the council the adjustment is intended to “keep pace with inflation” rather than raise the city’s cost‑recovery level. “This 3.3 CPI adjustment does not increase the level of our cost recovery. It simply helps us keep pace with inflation,” Lewis said.
Key changes adopted by the council:
- A 3.3% CPI update applied to fee categories that are structured to target full cost recovery (planning, engineering, building and safety, community preservation); no CPI change to culture, leisure and recreation or management and support categories where fees are not set for full cost recovery. - New appeal hearing fee: $85. - New commercial vending vehicle permit: initial fee $189; renewal $95. - Removal of the Cyber Café license fee (staff said a planning commission amendment related to the program is scheduled for May 8 and will come back to council on June 3).
City staff said the update is an interim, routine adjustment and that a comprehensive fee study and time‑study will be undertaken later in the year to evaluate cost‑recovery policy and levels in greater depth.
The council approved the resolution on a 4–0 vote; Mayor Pro Tem was recorded as absent.
Why it matters: The changes preserve current cost‑recovery levels while indexing certain fees to inflation, add two narrowly targeted fees, and set the schedule for a broader comprehensive fee study later in the year.
What’s next: The updated schedule is effective July 1, 2025. Staff will begin the comprehensive fee study and report back to the council, and the planning commission will consider an amendment related to the removed Cyber Café license in May.
