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<br />25 <br />Adoption of Fees and Ongoing Fee Management <br />The fees included as part of this study are set at the direction of the City Council. Consequently, the City <br />Council may adopt fees and modify them at a future date as costs of service change, city policies or goals <br />change, project volumes change, service recipient feedback is received, and annual revenue impact of <br />fees is confirmed. <br /> <br />If the City decides to adopt modified fees it should: <br /> <br /> Include the fee revisions as part of the FY 2017-18 Fee Schedule effective July 1, 2017. <br /> <br /> Ensure that City staff begin fee collections using updated fee schedules once the adopted fees <br />are effective. <br /> <br /> Actively monitor and bill for deposit-based fees – This will be particularly important for the <br />collection of Planning Fees. Planning staff has confirmed it has systems in place for collecting <br />and refunding, when necessary, deposit-based fees. <br /> <br /> Periodically Review and Adjust Fees and Calculation Methodologies – As part of this study, <br />numerous changes were made to fee structures and fee calculation methodologies. The fee <br />schedule was developed to allow for hourly billing of projects that fall outside the scope of those <br />considered when developing the fee schedule. Also, if fees for services are unintentionally <br />omitted from the adopted fee schedule, they should be added to the fee schedule as part of a <br />future update. <br /> <br /> Monitor feedback and permit statistics - Monitor permit and application volume and applicant <br />feedback to determine if fee modifications are resulting in any unanticipated changes in project <br />frequency and to increase the level of detail available for revenue forecasting. <br /> <br /> Adjust fees on an annual basis using inflationary index - In order to generally maintain pace <br />with regional cost inflation and the City’s salary cost inflation, the City should continue adjusting <br />its fees on an annual basis. <br /> <br /> Conduct future fee studies on regular basis – Since the City updates fees annually by the change <br />in CPI, it should conduct future fee studies periodically to confirm that fee levels remain at, or <br />below, legal limits. The City’s agreement with ClearSource includes an evaluation of fees and <br />recommendations for adjustments for fiscal years 2017-18 and 2018-19. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />37