Lake County approves $133,640 contract for community development operational and fee study

The Lake County Board of Supervisors on a recorded motion approved a contract with Matrix Consulting Group Limited to perform a community development operational review, organizational assessment and development fee and cost-recovery analysis in an amount not to exceed $133,640.

Matthew Rothstein, chief deputy county administrative officer, told the board the county issued RFP 261763 and recommended Matrix after the firm's proposal and interview process. Aaron Bagley, project manager for Matrix Consulting Group, described the firm’s approach and experience, saying the work focuses on mapping processes, staff and customer engagement, technology review and producing an implementation roadmap with prioritized recommendations.

Bagley said the engagement is expected to be completed in roughly six months, with draft reports around Thanksgiving and final reports in December. "A project like this typically takes six months," he said, and Matrix noted the cost-recovery component will follow initial operational analysis so that recommended process improvements can be reflected in fee recommendations.

Kusha Engel, the Matrix lead analyst on the fee study, described the firm’s bottom-up methodology: inventory current fee line items, identify staff and time required for typical case types, calculate fully burdened hourly rates (salaries, benefits and overhead) and compare results with peer jurisdictions. "We will be looking at it at an individual fee level," Engel said, adding that even cannabis-related fee line items will be analyzed so the board can see current charge versus cost.

Board members asked how the contract will be funded and how invoicing will be handled. Casey Mareno said the work is budgeted in Special Project 1781 (general fund) and the contract provides for monthly invoices. Board members also discussed how Matrix will select peer jurisdictions for comparative analysis; Bagley said Matrix will first consider counties the board suggests and then choose peers based on similarities in development activity rather than solely population or income levels.

During public comment, a resident asked who will oversee the consultant to ensure objectivity and recommended oversight by the chief information officer or the auditor/internal controller rather than by a department director. The commenter also argued that fee recommendations should be based on best-practice costs after efficiency improvements rather than on current, potentially inefficient, costs. "I would recommend that it be CIO or the auditor's office internal controller's office and not say for example a director or assistant director," the commenter said.

Another online commenter urged a full analysis of the county’s cannabis program (expenses and revenues, including staff time) to ensure it is not being subsidized indirectly. Staff confirmed that Kevin Ingram served as the public representative on the consultant selection committee based on planning and city-management experience.

Betsy Klein of Upper Lake and Margot Kara urged robust public participation, transparency of reports and inclusion of planning commission processes and documentation in the analysis. Rothstein and staff clarified the consultant selection criteria emphasized prior relevant experience; staff confirmed the 2021 analysis was not produced by Matrix.

A board member moved to approve the agreement "for community development department operational review organizational assessment development fee and cost recovery analysis in the not to exceed amount of $133,640 and authorize the chair to sign." The motion received a second, and the clerk recorded that the motion "carries 4." The board directed that the contract be administered by county administration and authorized the chair to sign.

The contract allows monthly invoicing and starts with data collection; staff said work is expected to begin shortly after board approval. Next steps are for staff to finalize contract paperwork and for Matrix to begin interviews, surveys and process mapping as described in their scope.