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Lumis council introduces new code to overhaul user fees after consultant finds town recovering about 59% of costs
Summary
A Matrix Consulting study found Lumis recovers roughly 59% of full service costs and an under-recovery near $300,000; council introduced an ordinance to create one consolidated fee code and directed staff to return next month with the fee resolution for adoption.
The Lumis Town Council introduced an ordinance May 12 that would create a consolidated municipal code provision to govern nearly all local user fees, after a consultant's study found the town is under-recovering by roughly $300,000.
"It's important to understand what's the true full cost of providing all the services," Matrix vice president Kush Bingal told the council during a 45-minute briefing on the firm's bottom-up study. Bingal said consultants calculated time assumptions, fully burdened staff rates and overhead to determine the maximum justifiable fee for each service. The firm estimated the town is recovering about 59% of the full cost across its services.
Town staff and Matrix said the largest gaps were in planning and engineering services, where some work had historically been subsidized or not charged. Staff recommended a staged approach to changes: legal compliance where statutes limit fees, phased adjustments to avoid sticker shock, and an annual CPI adjustment with a fuller internal review every two years and a consultant review every five to seven years.
Ted, staff lead on the project, noted the ordinance introduced May 12 sets the legal framework in the municipal code; the actual fee schedule will be set separately by resolution next month and is expected to go into effect July 1. "Adoption of the ordinance today is the scaffolding," he said, describing the next steps as adoption of the recommended fees by resolution and public discussion in open session.
Council members asked whether comparative fee data from neighboring jurisdictions should constrain local choices. Bingal said regional comparisons are useful as a flag to examine operations, but an agency's fee should principally reflect its own cost of providing a service.
The introduction passed on a roll call vote (Cartwright: yes; Cortez: yes; Young Bloodood: yes; Ring: yes; Mayor Clark Kretz: yes). Staff said the detailed master fee schedule and supporting rationale would return next month for final action.
What happens next: staff will publish the proposed fee resolution and schedule for public review; the council will consider adoption next month, with potential CPI indexing and phased implementation discussed in committee and with departments.
