Palm Springs holds public hearing on comprehensive fee update; council asks staff for revenue breakdowns and more community review

City staff and consultant Willdan presented a comprehensive user-fee study April 9 that updates dozens of fees across departments, recommends changes to recover departmental costs and provides a framework for annual adjustments.

The study enumerated proposed changes in building, engineering, parks and recreation, fire, police, planning, libraries and other departments. Willdan’s model calculated fully burdened hourly rates, allocated central-city overhead and estimated the maximum justified fee level for each service. Staff and the consultant estimated the total additional recoverable revenue at roughly $1.03 million per year under the recommended schedule, although the consultant cautioned that exact revenue depends on how often individual fees are charged.

Council reaction and requests Council members asked for more detail before any final vote: they requested per-fee revenue estimates (which the city said would require additional analysis), removal of fees that are no longer charged, and lists of the highest-impact fees by department so the council can prioritize changes. Council also highlighted equity and policy goals — for example, seeking options to avoid large increases for daycare inspections and to consider resident discounts or scholarship programs for parks and recreation services.

Public hearing and next steps The city opened the public hearing and heard brief comment from a vacation‑rental owner group that asked for additional detail on the proposed regular and junior vacation rental permit fees. Council directed staff to collect the comments raised at the hearing, remove obsolete fees, and return with an updated fee schedule, a clearer mapping from fees to actual revenue lines, and department-level summaries that identify the top revenue-generating or most‑used fees. Staff indicated the study results will be posted with proposed changes and that the council could continue or finalize adoption at a later meeting. No final fee ordinance was adopted on April 9.

Key study points and samples from the record - Willdan’s approach: establish a cost-allocation plan, determine fully burdened hourly rates for staff who perform fee-based services, allocate central support costs, and build each fee from the time and direct-cost inputs. - Example recommendations discussed in public: proposed airport 24‑hour parking increase (from $20 to $26) drew council concern and at least…