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Council folds small professional-services deposits into application fees to simplify billing
Summary
Centerville’s council approved resolution 2026-02 and ordinance 2026-08 to eliminate separate professional-services deposit lines and add those amounts into application fees, a change staff said reduces administrative burden and rarely required refunds.
The Centerville City Council on April 7 approved a package of fee-schedule and municipal-code cleanups that eliminate small 'professional services' deposit line items and fold those amounts into the applicable application fees.
Staff (Lisa) said the deposits—typically $250—required tracking, accounting, and occasional refunds. "We would like to eliminate the deposit, because it's also an accounting task..." she said, noting the city had rarely refunded those deposits in recent years and the change reduces recordkeeping. The council opened a public hearing (no comments) and approved resolution 2026-02 to amend the fee schedule. Council later approved ordinance 2026-08 to remove the municipal-code references to professional-services deposits.
Staff said these are administrative, non-revenue-raising adjustments; larger fee analyses and possible increases for undercharged services will be brought back to council later after comparative research. Existing deposits on the books will still be managed and refunded where appropriate; staff estimated only a small number remain active.
Next steps: staff to implement the fee-schedule changes and update billing practices. Additional fee adjustments may be proposed after further comparative study with neighboring jurisdictions.
