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Diamond Bar adopts sweeping user-fee update to better match cost of services
Summary
The Diamond Bar City Council on Jan. 20 adopted a comprehensive update to the city's fee schedule, increasing or restructuring dozens of user fees to better reflect the cost of providing services and reducing general-fund subsidies by an estimated $954,000 in 2026–27.
The Diamond Bar City Council on Jan. 20 unanimously adopted Resolution 202602 approving a revised city fee schedule intended to align user charges with the actual cost of service.
City staff and Willdan Financial Services consultant Priti Patel told the council the comprehensive study found many fees have fallen behind the cost of providing services. Principal Management Analyst Danette Mansfield summarized proposed changes affecting administrative services, building and safety permits, planning fees, public works, parks and recreation and technology charges. The presentation said the proposal would reduce general-fund subsidies by an estimated $954,000 in fiscal year 2026–27.
The study recommended across-the-board adjustments: building and permit fees would be recalibrated (staff cited average building-permit increases in the 31%–39% range for affected items), planning flat fees showed average increases of about 70% for some services, and certain administrative fees would move from flat rates to deposit-based or actual-cost models. Staff highlighted the public-convenience-and-necessity (PCN) application as an example: the proposed structure sets a $2,486 application fee plus a $2,000 refundable deposit so applicants pay only for actual staff time and unused funds are returned.
Other specific items in the staff report included a proposed business-license initial fee of $164 and a renewal fee of $38, a modest increase in a water-heater permit from $25.56 to $32, and technology-related adjustments such as lowering the building-records archiving fee and raising the permit-system replacement fee to better match long-term replacement costs.
Councilmembers asked staff how the schedule would affect low-income residents and seniors. Councilmembers noted concerns about increases for some services and asked whether an appeal or discount process exists for residents on fixed incomes. Staff responded that an appeal process is not currently in place for most fees and that some assistance continues through other programs, such as the Home Improvement Program, which provides interest-free loans for qualifying low- and moderate-income homeowners. Councilmembers asked staff to consider options for fee relief or targeted assistance during future budget discussions.
After the presentation and a public-hearing period during which no members of the public spoke on the proposal, the council moved and approved Resolution 202602, making the fee schedule effective July 1, 2026. City Clerk Santana recorded a unanimous roll-call vote with the mayor and councilmembers present and Mayor Pro Tem absent.
The council approved the fee schedule as part of the consent agenda; staff said the city will apply an annual CPI adjustment and perform a comprehensive fee review every five years to avoid future gaps between costs and fees.
