Council adopts immediate increases to Garden Grove building and planning fees after consultant study

The Garden Grove City Council voted to adopt a resolution immediately updating the city’s building and planning fees after a presentation of a cost-of-service study by consultant Clear Source Financial.

Community Development Director Nikki Wetzel introduced the item and consultant Terry Madsen reviewed the study that compared Garden Grove’s fees with regional peers, estimated city cost recovery and proposed three options: a three-year phase-in, a two-year phase-in, or an immediate adjustment. The study found that building fees currently recover about 80 percent of the department’s costs and identified an estimated under-recovery of about $1.7 million for fee-related services.

Council decision and reasoning At the conclusion of the public hearing and council discussion, the council voted 7–0 to adopt the staff recommendation to implement the fee changes immediately (the option described to the council as an immediate adjustment). Councilmembers who spoke cited the need to recover service costs, strengthen in-house plan review capacity, reduce reliance on outside firms and free general-fund dollars for other city priorities.

What the resolution does (as described in the presentation) - Recalibrates many building and planning fees so the city moves toward full cost recovery for discrete permit and plan-review services. - Provides three adoption options in the staff packet; council selected the immediate-adjustment option. Staff described an alternate multi-year phase-in for council consideration but the council chose immediate adoption. - Staff presented a regional fee comparison showing Garden Grove’s current fees were low relative to nearby jurisdictions and that adopting the proposed schedule would place the city in a mid-range position within the region.

Fiscal and operational context Terry Madsen told the council the study measured an estimated $1.7 million in under-recovery limited to fee-related services; options presented would recover those costs over different timelines depending on the phase-in approach. The study and staff recommended linking future annual fee adjustments to regional cost inflation unless the council orders a new study; council members discussed and asked for a review policy at the end of any phase-in period.

Public comment and council follow-up One member of the public asked the council to prefer a three-year phase-in and to revisit automatic CPI adjustments after the initial phase-in. Council members discussed the balance between encouraging construction and ensuring fair cost recovery; several council members said they preferred immediate adoption to stop ongoing subsidy from the general fund and to allow the community development department to use fees to improve in-house services.

Outcome The council adopted the resolution updating planning and building fees by a recorded vote of 7–0. Staff will implement the fee schedule and apply the changes as specified in the adopted resolution; staff said implementation would begin according to the fiscal timelines described in the staff report.

Ending Councilmembers asked staff to return with operational details, and several members said the council would use future budget discussions to consider how fee revenue should be earmarked to strengthen plan review and permitting capacity.