Council adopts consolidated fee schedule including new monthly public-safety fee; effective Sept. 1

The Bluffdale City Council voted to adopt Ordinance 2024-18, approving an updated consolidated fee schedule that includes a new monthly public-safety fee to help cover expanded police and fire services.

Stephanie and Bruce (city staff) presented a redlined fee schedule and an executive summary of an independent public-safety fee study. Staff said the fee amounts were calculated from calls-for-service and usage in three city zones and that the presented fee was set below the study’s full cost-recovery recommendation to align with the amount budgeted for the city. “The amount here is to recover the budgeted revenue in the budget,” staff said, and clarified that charges assessed starting Sept. 1 would generally appear on bills issued in arrears (most customers would first see them on October statements).

Council members discussed methodology and legal precedent. Council member Bowing asked about a referenced Supreme Court decision involving Pleasant Grove; staff and the consultant noted that the Pleasant Grove case validated that a transportation-style fee, when supported by a service-based study, could be treated as a fee rather than a tax. The staff consultant who prepared Bluffdale’s study was the same author involved in the Pleasant Grove work, and council members said that gave them confidence in the legal footing.

Council members also questioned the study’s scope: one member noted the analysis relied on police service calls because a recent state bill raised issues for cities that use contracted public-safety services. Staff explained that because Bluffdale uses contract police services (with Saratoga Police), the study focused on that dataset to withstand potential state scrutiny; staff said including full fire-service costs would have raised suggested fees substantially.

A member of the public, Matt Evans, said the fee would fund six full-time firefighters and provide 24-hour coverage. After closing the public hearing, Council member Austin moved to approve the ordinance with an effective date of Sept. 1; Council member Crockett seconded. The council took roll-call and the motion passed.

Staff also noted several non-fee edits in the consolidated schedule: revised community-room fees and administrative cancellation charges, moves of street/engineering fees to the engineering department, hydant-meter and garbage/water fee adjustments that reflect contract changes, and removal of landscaping bond/SWIP violation fees in response to state law changes. Staff recommended an implementation date of Sept. 1 to allow billing systems time to incorporate the changes.