Finance committee recommends citywide fee changes, forwards study to council; staff seek two immediate fees

Summary

The Finance & Administration Committee approved the annual fee study and voted to forward the proposed increases and new fees to full council, with staff asking that a site improvement permit fee and a minimum public plan review fee be effective immediately on passage; most other changes would take effect July 1, 2026.

The Finance and Administration Committee voted Dec. 4 to recommend the city's annual fee study to full council, approving proposed adjustments that staff said would generate nearly $1.5 million in additional revenue and forwarding the package for first reading on Jan. 12 and second reading on Jan. 26.

Tammy Beaman, the city's budget coordinator, told the committee the study reviews one-third of municipal fees on a three-year rotation and applies a 2.7% CPI adjustment to the remaining fees. "Per the policy, the recommendation is to recover a 100% of the fees evaluated," Beaman said, while noting exceptions for a small set of fees such as cemetery and some health-related charges.

The study proposes changes across 185 fees, with staff identifying 35 new fees, one consolidation, eight reductions and 155 increases. Beaman said the sanitary landfill and changes to tipping fees are the single largest revenue driver in the package; staff described an overall package that would increase revenue for both general and non-general funds, and that much of the projected gain reflects landfill/tipping changes.

Key items in the committee's review included:

- Site improvement permit: Staff introduced a new optional permit to allow limited, expedited review so developers may begin site work (stormwater, limited grading, utility installation and limited footings) while full building plans are completed. Staff requested that the site…

Finance committee recommends citywide fee changes, forwards study to council; staff seek two immediate fees

Summary

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