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Board of Appeals proposes higher surcharges to recover new city attorney cost-recovery; supervisors question methodology
Summary
The committee reviewed an ordinance to adjust permit and license appeal surcharges to recover costs including a new city attorney cost-recovery request; staff said controller-calculated surcharges rely on prior-year appeals, while supervisors asked whether projected activity (for example, anticipated cannabis appeals) could be used to set fees.
The Budget and Finance Committee heard a presentation on an ordinance to amend administrative code surcharges that fund the Board of Appeals.
Victor Pacheco, interim head of the Board of Appeals, said the proposal increases several surcharges to recover costs that include a first-time cost-recovery request from the city attorney's office (roughly $160,000), salary adjustments under current MOUs, court-reporting contracts and mandatory fringe benefits. He explained that the controller's office typically calculates surcharges using actual prior-year appeal counts and, per city attorney guidance, cannot bill for categories that had zero appeals in the prior year.
Supervisors queried whether the city could base new fees on projected demand rather than strictly on last year's appeals. Deputy City Attorney Cheryl Adams confirmed the city attorney's office advised fees are generally based on prior-year service levels; Controller Ben Rosenfield said when establishing new fees it is acceptable to estimate future activity but the office prefers actual data when available.
The committee agreed to take technical amendments from city attorney staff and, after discussion, moved Item 2 forward in committee for next steps on the budget; staff indicated they expected to avoid requiring the Board of Appeals to return next week if reconciled numbers are provided.
Next steps: staff will provide technical amendments and reconciled numbers to the controller and the committee; the ordinance will proceed through the committee process.
