COUNTY OF SAN MATEO

ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES AGENCY

 

Date:

May 12, 2003

   

Set Time:

10:15 a.m.

   

Hearing Date:

June 10, 2003

 

To:

Honorable Board of Supervisors

 

From:

Marcia Raines, Director of Environmental Services

 

Subject:

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Increases in Planning and Building, Parks and Recreation, Agriculture/Weights and Measures and Animal Control fees.

 

RECOMMENDATION

 

1.

Adopt a Resolution approving increases in Planning and Building fees, as follows: (a) a 36% increase in Planning and Building fees to eliminate the general fund contribution and achieve near full cost recovery in providing development review services; plus (b) an additional 15% increase in Planning and Building fees to recover from permit applicants the cost of providing long range planning services.

   

2.

Adopt a Resolution increasing Parks and Recreation fees as follows: (a) an increase in selected park use and special activity fees with most increasing by 20-25%, (b) a 3% increase in Coyote Point Marina berth rate fees, and (c) a new fee of $24 annually for interested parties to maintain their name on the Marina Berther Waiting List.

   

3.

Adopt Ordinances increasing/establishing Agriculture/Weights and Measures fees, as follows: (a) amend Section 2.24.080 of Chapter 24 of Title 2 of the San Mateo County Ordinance Code to increase fees charged by the Agricultural Commissioner for the inspection and certification of certain plant products, annual registration of agricultural pest control businesses and pest control advisers and establishing fees for certified farmers' markets and certified producers; (b) add Chapter 5.144 of Title 5 of the San Mateo County Ordinance Code providing for a registration certificate and fee and consumer notification posting for automated point-of-sale stations (scanners); (c) amend Section 5.124.020 and 5.124.030 of Chapter 124 of Title 5 of the San Mateo County Ordinance Code increasing annual device registration fees for certain commercial weighing and measuring devices.

   

4

Adopt Resolutions increasing Agriculture/Weights and Measures fees, as follows: (a) establishing an annual registration fee for inspection of automated point-of-sale stations (scanners); (b) amending the fee schedule for weights and measures inspection stand-by charges; and (c) amending the fee schedule for verifying the accuracy of non-commercial weighing and measuring devices.

   

5.

Adopt an ordinance increasing all Animal Control fees, including humane services fees and dog licenses.

   

BACKGROUND

 

Pursuant to your Board's direction, the Environmental Services Agency was asked to reduce its Net County Cost (NCC) by 20% for FY 2003-04; and where feasible, raise fees to fully recover costs for services.

 

The fee increases proposed by the Planning and Building Division will further reduce the divisions NCC beyond the 20% reduction already made and achieve near full cost recovery. The fees proposed by the Parks and Recreation Division and Agriculture, Weights and Measures have been included in the Recommended 2003-04 budget and will, in addition to the elimination of vacant positions and other reductions made, allow each division to meet its budget target. Should the proposed fees outlined by these two division not be adopted, the divisions will need to make further significant reductions in staff and customer service levels to meet their FY 2003-04 budget targets.

 

Planning and Building fees. County Ordinance 2512 adopted June 13, 1978 authorizes the setting of building fees by resolution of the Board of Supervisors. Ordinance 2193, April 10, 1973, authorizes a similar process for planning fees. State law requires that fees not exceed the cost of providing services. Recent County practice has been to adopt multi-year fee schedules that correlate with the Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA) in the divisons labor contracts. Your Board did that on April 8, 2003. A 36% increase in providing development review services, plus an additional 15 % increase to recover from permit applicants the cost of providing long range planning services (preparation and maintenance of County General Plan and development regulations) would achieve near full cost recovery.

 

Parks and Recreation fees. Park fees have been analyzed annually, but were last raised in 1997 in order to remain comparable to what other jurisdictions charge. Marina fees have been raised annually, most recently in August 2003 by 3%. These park usage fees are being proposed as part of the budget strategy to reduce the divisions Net County Cost by 20%. The Marina berthing rate increase is mandated by a loan agreement with the California Department of Boating and Waterways.

 

Agriculture/Weights and Measures fees. The division is proposing to increase phytosanitary inspection certification fees, agricultural pest control business annual registration fees and certain annual device registration and weights and measures inspection fees. The proposed changes in pest control adviser annual registration, weighing and measuring device registration and inspection fees for stand-by time will align the County charges with the State fee schedules. The division also proposes to establish a new fee for cost recovery of staff direct marketing inspection activities at certified farmers' markets and certified producer growing sites. Additionally, a new fee is proposed for the annual registration of businesses with automated point-of-sale stations (scanners) to cover the costs of an expanded consumer protection inspection program. These proposed fee increases and new fees are part of the division's plan to meet its FY 2003-04 budget target.

 

Animal Control fees. The twenty cities of the County contract with the County for the provision of animal control services, and the County in turn contracts with the Peninsula Humane Society for all field and shelter services. Animal Control fees such as animal licenses and humane services fees, which encompass all fees charged at the shelter, are set by ordinance for the unincorporated areas of the County. According to the contracts between the County and the twenty cities, all cities must maintain the same fee structure as the County. After adoption by the County, the twenty cities will be asked to adopt the same animal control fee structure.

 

FISCAL IMPACT

 

Planning and Building. In the submitted Recommended FY 2003-04 budget, the fee increase of 5% approved on April 8 has been combined with the elimination of two vacant positions and a reduction in extra help funding to meet the Planning and Building Net County Cost target of $1,610,911, which is based on a 20% NCC reduction goal. Approval of the 36% "development review" fee increment would increase revenues by approximately $1,022,911, thus reducing Planning and Building's NCC to approximately $588,000. Approval of the additional 15% "long range planning" fee increment would further increase revenues by approximately $588,000, thus reducing Planning and Building's NCC to approximately zero. All of the above scenarios include the elimination of two positions and reduction of extra help funding. Adding back any of those cuts in conjunction with whatever fee increase is approved would increase NCC above the indicated levels.

 

Parks and Recreation. To meet the 20% NCC reduction goal, the Parks and Recreation Division has proposed a variety of strategies, including elimination of three vacant full time positions, fee increases for 17 park activities by about 25%, shifting some positions to funding other than General Fund, reduction of Extra Help salaries by 66%, reduction of Services and Supplies by 20% and reduction in Other Charges by 30%.

 

The Parks and Recreation Division's Operations, Maintenance and Administrative budget for FY 02-03 has a Net County Cost of $5,253,672. If the fee package were not adopted, it would mean that three filled positions would have to be eliminated from the budget to meet the Net Count Cost target.

 

Agriculture/Weights and Measures. The proposed fee increases have been included in the Agricultural Commissioner/Sealer Division budget for FY 2003-04 and are part of the division's Net County Cost reduction plan.

 

The new phytosanitary inspection certification fee schedule will provide $131,000 in annual revenue, which will represent full cost recovery for this service. A total of $21,000 has been added to the division's FY 2003-04 budget based on this revised fee schedule. The proposed agricultural pest control business fee will provide approximately $1,000 in additional annual revenue. The proposed changes in the Agricultural Pest Control Adviser annual registration fee will have no effect on revenue. The new direct marketing fees for certification and inspection of certified farmers' markets and certified producers will provided additional revenue of $12,000 which will represent full cost recovery for these mandated services. There is no Net County Cost associated with this ordinance amendment.

 

If the Board adopts the ordinance and the resolution authorizing a fee for scanner registration, the new fee would be in effect for the 2004 calendar year registrations and would provide full cost recovery for the scanner inspection program. Revenue from scanner registration fees for FY 2003-04 and annually thereafter would total $110,000. The additional revenue would help meet the Agricultural Commissioner/Sealer Division Net County Cost target of $650,245 which is based on a 20% NCC reduction goal for FY 2003-04.

 

If the Board adopts the ordinance amending the fee schedule for device registration, the new charges would be in effect for the 2004 calendar year registrations. Revenue from device registration fees for FY 2003-04 would increase approximately $2,600 to an annual total of $115,000.

 

If the Board approves the resolution amending the stand-by charges fee schedule, the new charges would be in effect in July 2003. Requests for stand-by time during device inspections are very infrequent; therefore, the impact of the increased charges on division revenue will be insignificant.

 

If the Board adopts the resolution amending the fee schedule for non-commercial device inspection, the new charges would be in effect in July 2003. Estimated annual revenue for the inspection of non-commercial devices would increase from $660 to approximately $1,000.

 

Animal Control. In FY 2001-02, Humane Services fees totaled $319,760, and revenue to the Animal Control Program from Animal Licensing totaled $125,972. Based on these figures, and assuming some user drop-off into revenue estimates due to disincentive to use animal control services due to increased fees, the proposed increases are estimated to bring approximately $200,000 of additional revenue to the program. In order to realize the full revenue source, the County and all cities must adopt the proposed fees. The revised ordinance and fee information has been distributed to the contracting cities, which are expected to enact the fee increases subsequent to County approval. The County and cities distribute Animal Control costs based on a percentage share which is determined by city and County use of all Animal Control Services. In FY 2003-04, the County's share of Animal Control costs will be 6.92%. Revenues to the Animal Control Program are totaled and reduce the amount all jurisdictions pay for Animal Control Services. Hence, the amount the County pays for Animal Control Services will be less 6.92% of all revenues.