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Grand Terrace awards development impact fee study to lowest bidder RCS
Summary
Council selected Revenue and Cost Specialists (RCS) to update development impact fees, citing RCS's prior work with the city and a proposed two-principal team; council noted recent court guidance (Sheets) will shape the consultant's constitutional analysis.
City building official Luis Garda presented competing bids to update Grand Terrace's development impact fees, a set of one-time charges last revised in 2015. Staff recommended Revenue and Cost Specialists (RCS) on the basis of prior work with the city, proposed staffing, firm experience and the lowest bid of $39,600; Willdan and NBS submitted higher bids ($69,000 and $60,000 respectively).
Garda said the study will revisit fees for law-enforcement facilities, fire suppression, traffic circulation, storm drainage, general facilities and new items such as a library facilities fee and accessory-dwelling-unit calculations. City attorney guidance flagged a recent court decision (referred to by staff as the Sheets case) that affects how development impact fees are structured; the consultant's scope will include developing a constitutionally defensible fee structure and a clear nexus to impacts.
Councilmembers asked about the five-year best-practice review cycle and staff confirmed fees should be revisited periodically. Councilmember Henderson praised the RCS study previously presented to the city. After public hearing and deliberation the council voted unanimously to award the contract to RCS and delegated authority to the city manager to sign the standard consulting agreement, subject to city attorney approval.
The contract award initiates a consultant-led study that will produce recommended fee schedules and the legal analysis needed to support fee adoption at future hearings.
