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Napa council adopts updated five‑year fee schedule after public hearing; council asks staff to return with targeted adjustments
Summary
Council adopted an updated citywide fee schedule after hearing public and council concerns about work permits, ADU fees and housing impacts; the vote was 4–1 with direction to staff to refine specific fee items and consider an ad‑hoc review process or targeted staff follow‑up.
Finance staff (accounting supervisor Frank Herrera and consultants from Willdan) presented a five‑year fee study and an amended Exhibit A correcting a $40 certification fee. The study covers multiple departments and recommends fee adjustments to align user charges with full cost of service while keeping most routine fees on an inflation basis.
Public commenters — including industry representatives — urged changes to specific items: Basin Vine Cardroom asked that work permits be valid for two years (rather than six‑month renewals) to reduce burdens on low‑wage employees; councilmembers asked staff to apply a ‘‘focus areas’’ lens (housing, climate, economic resiliency) to identify targeted exceptions or discounts such as ADU reductions already included as a 50% reduction for qualifying units.
Council debated whether to adopt the schedule immediately and return with targeted amendments or to postpone adoption for further review. Staff recommended adopting the schedule to keep the city’s implementation timelines and system changes on track. The council adopted the updated fee schedule on a 4–1 vote with direction to staff to return with possible amendments and to work with councilmembers on targeted refinements and monitoring.
Next steps: staff will implement the fee updates after the required 60‑day period or once the city’s enterprise permitting system launches, whichever is later, and will return with recommended adjustments on areas flagged by council.
