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<br />21 <br />Fire Prevention Fees <br />Services Provided by the Division <br />The Fire Prevention Division of the Fire Department leads mitigation efforts designed to help prevent <br />emergencies. Fee related efforts performed by the division include, but are not limited to, review and <br />inspection of new construction, fire sprinkler systems, and fire alarm systems to assess compliance with <br />the Fire Code. Only the costs of providing fee-related services are proposed to be recovered from fees. <br />Costs associated with non-fee related services are proposed to be paid from other sources, typically the <br />City’s General Fund revenues. Non-fee related services include administrative duties, community <br />events, planning support, and code adoption. <br /> <br />Fire Prevention Fees: Study Outcomes and Recommendations <br /># Finding / Recommendation Description <br />1 Current fees recover less than the <br />full cost of providing services <br /> Current fees recover ≈86% of the cost of service. <br />2 Use a phase-in approach to increase <br />cost recovery levels over a multi- <br />year period <br /> Set majority of fees to recover 93% with long-term target of <br />full cost recovery. <br />3 Add new fee to allow for recovery <br />of costs associated with excess plan <br />reviews <br /> The division uses flat (fixed) fees for services that are <br />developed based on a typical level of effort required. <br />Occasionally, applicants require significantly more plan <br />review effort than anticipated in the fee. In order to allow <br />the City to recover its costs, a fee is proposed to be added to <br />account for these scenarios. <br />4 Annual revenue increase of $20K <br />Aggregate recovery increase of 8% <br /> Increasing recovery levels from ≈ 86% to 93% should result <br />in increased revenue of roughly $20,000. <br /> <br />The following charts provide regional fee comparison information, including the City’s current and <br />proposed fees for two readily comparable fire fee-related services. Additionally, a listing of all current <br />and proposed fees is included in Appendix C. Hourly rates for fire prevention fee-related services vary <br />widely among municipalities throughout the region and throughout the State of California. Variation in <br />rates and fees for service is typically attributable to differences in targeted cost recovery levels, cost <br />structures (in-house v. contract staffing) and service levels assumed in fees. <br /> <br /> <br />33