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Yorba Linda council adopts updated user-and-regulatory fee schedule with annual escalator
Summary
After a presentation by ClearSource Financial Consulting, the council adopted a resolution updating user and regulatory fees for fiscal years 2026—2027 and authorized an annual inflationary escalator capped at 3.5 percent; staff estimate roughly $1 million in additional annual cost recovery if fully realized.
The City Council voted unanimously to adopt an updated user and regulatory fee schedule and to authorize an automatic annual escalator to limit staleness between full studies. Terry Madsen of ClearSource Financial Consulting told the council the study recalibrated cost-of-service calculations and recommended a mix of fee adjustments. "If the city council were to adopt the proposed fees, we would anticipate about $1,000,000 in additional general fund cost recovery per year," Madsen said.
Finance staff and the city's consultant emphasized that the study focused on service-based fees (permit processing, inspections and other application-based services), not impact or utility rates, and that the goal is cost recovery and proportionality rather than profit. The proposed changes were described as positioning Yorba Linda broadly in the mid-range of regional comparators and included a staff-recommended annual escalator tied to regional inflation, not to exceed 3.5 percent based on a ten-year CPI lookback.
Mayor Pro Tem and the finance committee recommended the 3.5 percent cap on the automatic adjustment; the motion to adopt the resolution including that escalator passed unanimously. The adopted schedule will become effective after required notice periods; staff said implementation timelines would follow the state's notice requirements where applicable.
