Walnut Creek council reviews citywide fee-recovery policy, moves to include all Walnut Creek addresses in resident discount

City staff presented a draft user-fee cost recovery policy and proposed fiscal year 2027 master fee schedule to the Walnut Creek City Council on July 21, asking for council direction before returning Aug. 18 for adoption.

The presentation, led by Administrative Services Director Kirsten McCass, said the city’s fee-based services cost about $33 million in FY26, of which current user fees recover roughly $21 million (about 65% cost recovery). Staff proposed a framework that sets typical cost-recovery ranges by benefit type — community benefit (0–50%), community/individual (40–80%), voluntary market (70%+), and regulatory (80–100%) — and recommended continuing market-based pricing where appropriate, phased implementation for large increases, and periodic comprehensive studies every 5–7 years.

Kirsten McCass said the fee study evaluated roughly 600 line items. Of those, staff proposed no change for about 257; 285 would be adjusted (largely concentrated in lower-volume specialty and complex regulatory applications such as building valuation schedules and entitlement reviews) and 74 new items would be added (about 68% of the new lines relate to affordable-housing administration but are recommended to remain subsidized).

The staff memo estimated that if demand remains at FY26 levels, the proposed schedule would largely offset a projected $1.7 million shortfall in fee revenue and move the citywide cost-recovery rate toward roughly 70–72% rather than generating a substantial net revenue increase. Staff recommended an implementation date of Jan. 1, 2027, to allow stakeholder outreach and operational changes.

Council members focused questions on how the city would operationalize a proposed 10% resident discount, whether to limit discounts to incorporated property-taxpaying residents, and how to treat longstanding grandfathered or nonprofit discounts. Arts and Recreation Director Chris Farrow said the registration software can use GIS to tag city addresses and show both resident and standard rates in activity guides and online; operational exceptions (for example, point-of-sale gate fees at pools) may make the discount infeasible in some instances.

After extended discussion, the council gave staff direction to prepare the fee policy with a 10% resident discount applied to Walnut Creek addresses (including unincorporated Walnut Creek) for items where operationally feasible, to standardize language ("resident discount" vs. "preferential pricing") and to continue analyzing an overall cost‑recovery target as part of the upcoming budget cycle. Council members asked staff to return with any operational details, nonprofit-treatment clarifications, and final policy language at the Aug. 18 meeting, when the council will consider formal adoption of the FY27 master fee schedule and the user-fee cost recovery policy.

The council did not take a final vote on the full schedule at the July 21 meeting; staff will incorporate the council’s direction, refine administrative details, and return with a final resolution for adoption.