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Town adopts updated user and regulatory fees effective July 1, 2026
Summary
After a public hearing, the council adopted an inflationary update to the town’s user and regulatory fee schedule (mostly a 2.18% CPI adjustment, effective July 1). Staff and consultant emphasized these are cost-recovery fees, not taxes; impact fees were not included.
The council held a public hearing and adopted a resolution updating Woodside’s user and regulatory fee schedule, with most fees rising by 2.18 percent effective July 1, 2026.
Patty Higashioa, senior management analyst, introduced consultant Terry Madson of Clear Source Financial Consulting, who explained the adjustments were largely inflationary and designed to recover service costs (plan review, permit, inspection and entitlement fees) in accordance with the California Constitution and Government Code. "We're not in the profit business; we're in the cost‑recovery business," Madson told the council.
Council members questioned whether impact fees for roadwork and heavy construction equipment were being examined; staff clarified impact fees (for infrastructure) are adopted by separate legislation and were not under consideration in this update. Several council members asked staff to examine whether existing impact fees reflected the town's unusually delicate, historic roadways.
The council voted by roll call to adopt the resolution updating regulatory fees. No taxes, assessments or utility-rate changes were proposed as part of the update.
Next steps: The updated fee schedule takes effect July 1, 2026; staff will continue periodic comprehensive studies and may bring recommendations for impact fees or future adjustments separately.
