Solano supervisors adopt updated user fees after public hearing; planning and environmental health fees highlighted

The Solano County Board of Supervisors adopted a set of 19 revised departmental user‑fee schedules for fiscal year 2025–26 after a public hearing and staff presentation explaining the methodology behind the changes.

Anne Putney, principal management analyst in the county administrator’s office, told the board that the county uses a productive hourly rate (PHR) method — a combination of direct and indirect costs — to calculate fees and try to recover the cost of providing services while minimizing burdens on the public. Staff said many proposed fees would increase to reflect time and complexity; some proposed increases are large in percentage terms in narrowly defined categories, for example certain environmental‑health boring/soil‑sampling fees and planning fees.

Supervisors asked staff to provide clearer line‑item detail on which specific fees would change and to ensure departments notify regular customers about increases. Supervisor Williams and others requested follow‑up information on environmental‑health and planning fee items that showed steep percentage increases so board members and the public could understand how typical permit costs would change.

Matt Tuggle, engineering manager, and other staff explained the state’s increased permitting standards for borings and the additional inspection and documentation time that led the department to propose larger increases for those niche services. Staff said in some cases the county intentionally limited increases to lower than the full cost recovery after comparing fees with other jurisdictions.

Following the public hearing (no public speakers on the item), the board adopted the proposed fee resolutions by vote of 5–0; the new schedules are set to become effective July 1, 2025. Staff said the fee schedules will be posted online and departments will conduct outreach to affected customers.