San Gabriel council adopts FY2025–26 fee schedule, adds new Playhouse and permit charges

The San Gabriel City Council on May 20 adopted a resolution updating the citywide master fee schedule for fiscal year 2025–26, applying a 3.3% consumer price index adjustment and adding several new fees and rental-rate provisions, City staff said. The council voted 5–0 to approve the resolution and an amendment extending certain employee discounts to commissioners.

City staff presented the proposed schedule and said changes would take effect July 1, 2025. "Any approved updates to the citywide fee schedule will be effective July first of 2025," Assistant Finance Director Linda Tang told the council. Tang said the city uses the January CPI each year for consistency; the January 2025 Los Angeles-area CPI is 3.3 percent.

The fee adjustments are estimated to generate approximately $211,000 in additional general-fund revenue in fiscal year 2025–26, Tang said. Most existing fees were proposed to be increased by the 3.3% CPI, rounded to the nearest dollar, while other fees were adjusted to better reflect cost recovery or market rates.

New fees and changes highlighted in the presentation include: - A street lending permit fee of $8.96 tied to Ordinance 718 (second reading passed in March 2025). Staff said the fee is intended to recover costs for reviews and inspections performed by code enforcement, planning, police, public works and finance. - A $50 late-night staffing charge for nonprofit rentals of the adult center to cover two additional supervision staff. - Mission Playhouse concessions: staff will operate a concession stand with items generally priced between $2 and $4; the fee schedule documents an employee discount of $1 off each item. - Mission Playhouse equipment and staffing: a mirror ball added to rental inventory at $55 per week; front-of-house staffing charges for reserved shows proposed at $30 per hour per staff member with a four-hour minimum (staffing for reserved shows estimated up to 15 staff), and a smaller front-of-house staffing level for unreserved shows (seven staff) at the same hourly rate and minimum. - City-employee rental rates for Playhouse ancillary spaces proposed at 60% of regular ancillary rental and city-employee theater rental at 80% of the regular theater rate.

Council members asked staff clarifying questions during the public hearing. Council Member John Wu asked whether the projected $211,000 from the CPI adjustment would be sufficient to cover rising operational costs; Tang said the figure was calculated by applying the 3.3% CPI to budgeted general-fund revenue and that a full fee study should be done every five years to reassess cost recovery. "Because we have been keeping up with CPI for the last 3, 4 years... we're hoping that this will cover," Tang said.

Council Member Jorge Herrera Avila asked why the city uses the January CPI each year; Tang explained the city adopted January as its consistent reference month when the CPI-based policy was implemented after the 2021 fee study.

Council members also questioned the newly documented employee discounts for Playhouse rentals. Staff said the Playhouse discount is intended for city employees, including part-time employees, and that elected officials do not automatically receive the discount; the city attorney advised that any direct financial benefit to council members would require recusal from a vote and could prevent adoption if the council personally benefited. During deliberation, the council amended the motion to explicitly extend the employee discount to commission volunteers as well.

The council motion to adopt the resolution (listed in the staff report as Resolution 25-19) passed 5–0. The council also approved the consent calendar earlier in the meeting by the same margin.

The changes include both routine CPI increases and several new or newly documented line items to make cost recovery and staffing expectations more transparent for users of city facilities, especially the Mission Playhouse. Staff told the council that most fee adjustments are intended to be revenue-neutral on a per-service cost recovery basis and that the schedule will be included as an appendix to the city's FY2025–26 budget documents.

Votes at a glance: - Consent calendar: motion to approve routine consent items; motion made and seconded; motion passed 5–0. - Resolution 25-19: adopt updated master fee schedule for FY2025–26 (includes new fees and employee/commissioner discounts); motion to adopt was made, motion passed 5–0 (amendment added to extend employee discount to commissioners).

The fee schedule will be incorporated into the fiscal-year documents and take effect July 1, 2025, staff said. Ordinance 718, which staff said requires a permit tied to the new street lending permit fee, had its second reading in March 2025, according to the presentation.