On April 23, 2024, the City Council held a public hearing and adopted the Master Schedule of Fees, Fines and Penalties (Fee Schedule) update. The Fee Schedule establishes the City’s authority to set fees to recover the reasonable cost for services provided by the City to individual beneficiaries. Fees generally represent the full cost of providing the service. However, a fee can be reduced, or subsidized, to incentivize participation or respond to market factors. The Fee Schedule also establishes the City’s authority to charge fines and penalties for violations of law.
Occasionally, operational, economic or legislative changes necessitate updates to the fee schedule. Several changes are currently being recommended to the existing schedule, as outlined below. The details of each fee calculation can be found in the Cost Analysis document (Attachment A). Additionally, please note that if a fee is based on actual cost recovery and requires only an initial deposit, any excess deposit will be refunded upon project completion.
Building Services
Staff is proposing to add an "After Hours Inspection" fee and "Investigation Fee for Missed Inspection Steps" to the Master Fee Schedule (Exhibit "A" to Resolution) under the Miscellaneous Fees in Building Services to cover staff time costs for special and extra-ordinary work, as well as adding fees for miscellaneous plumbing fixture installation and replacements, which currently do not exist. Consolidation of rarely used fees and updated descriptions are intended to improve the uniform application of fees, which is necessary because of the new Virtual Development Services (VDS) system.
Development Services
Staff is proposing to add an “Entitlement Review – Engineering Consultant Services” fee to the Master Fee Schedule (Exhibit "A" to Resolution). This fee covers land development application reviews, previously handled by in-house staff but now assigned to consultants due to staffing changes. Staff will evaluate the fee after implementation and request an adjustment, if needed, to ensure full cost-recovery for the application process. The Business License Processing fee is now included with Land Use Clearance for Business License, which has been increased, as the process has been modified with the implementation of the new Virtual Development Services (VDS) system.
The current Post Entitlement Review – Engineering Consultant Services fee (initial deposit) is $10,702, while the proposed fee is $50,000, an increase of $39,298. However, it is important to note that the overall costs are not increasing; the deposit is simply being adjusted to reflect the actual costs being incurred. This fee covers land development application reviews, which were previously handled by in-house staff but are now assigned to consultants due to staffing changes. To address the gap between actual costs and the current deposit, an adjustment to the initial deposit amount is being proposed. This increase will help prevent delays caused by repeated requests for additional funds and ensure timely reviews, as the City no longer has in-house staff for these tasks.
Public Works - Engineering
For the Engineering Fees in Public Works, staff is proposing a new fee “Engineered/Mechanically Stabilized Earth (MSE) Walls – Inspection Fee” to the Master Fee Schedule (Exhibit "A" to Resolution) with the Initial Deposit amount of 5.5% of Engineering Cost Estimate. Building Services contains Retaining and Block walls, but newer development is using MSE walls which require additional time to inspect.
The Initial Deposit fee is calculated at half of the percentage for encroachment permit inspections as Quality Assurance/Quality Control consultants would assist with inspecting the remaining half. A proposed update to “Subdivision Encroachment Permit – Inspection Fee” from 5% to 11% of Engineering Cost Estimate is also included. The Inspection Fee needs to be updated to match our current Engineering Cost Estimate worksheets which reference 11%.
Rough Grading
Staff is proposing the Rough Grading Permit fees be moved to Engineering since they issue grading permits and provide inspection oversight. Consultant costs for plan check and daily on-site inspection will still be managed by the Planning Division. The fees for the Initial Deposit are set to increase from $4,013 plus $260 each 10,000 cubic yards to $4,213 plus $280 each 10,000 cubic yards. The new Initial Deposit fee uses Engineering’s fully burdened rate multiplied by 15 hours.
These fees are complete cost recovery for the City from developers, in order to support land development engineering review and plan check by the City.
Finance Department
Finance is proposing
to add an “Electronic Check Fee” to the Master Fee Schedule (Exhibit "A" to Resolution). This fee would pass through the e-check fees associated with business license and development transactions processed online via electronic check, which varies by vendor, and ranges from $0.50 to $1.95.
Facility Rentals
The Community Services Department is proposing a five-year fee schedule adjustment for facility rental fees at the Community Center, McCoy Equestrian Center, and other various community recreation facilities. A key change in the proposal is that rental rates will be determined based on the calendar year of the event rather than the booking date. For example, an event scheduled for 2026 but booked in 2025 will be charged the 2026 rate. The proposed facility rental schedule includes a 5% annual fee increase from 2026 to 2029 to address inflation, market trends, and rising operational expenses, including minimum wage increases. This adjustment is the first update to facility rental rates since 2023, helping ensure financial sustainability, competitive pricing, and the continued maintenance of high-quality facilities. Unlike most other fees, City facility rental fees are not required to be charged at the amount that it costs the Cty to rent but can be set at market rate.
Building Permit Fees
As shown in Table 9 of the cost recovery analysis (Attachment "A"), variances in New Construction/Addition Fees now account for area thresholds rounded to the nearest hundred, supporting updated building software requirements.
Public Notice and Hearing
A notice regarding the amending of fees was mailed to interested parties on January 8, 2025. A public notice was published on January 11, 2025, and on January 18, 2025, in the Chino Valley Champion newspaper. The proposed fee schedule, data indicating the amount of cost or estimated cost, required to provide the service for which the fee or service charges are levied and the revenue sources anticipated to provide the services, including General Fund revenues, was made available for public review on January 13, 2025, in the City Clerk's office. The City Council held a Fee Workshop on January 14, 2025, to discuss the proposed resolution amending the Master Schedule of Fees, Fines and Penalties.
Effective Date
The Government Code §66017 requires that certain fees shall be effective no sooner than 60 days following the adoption of the fee or charge or increase in the fee or charge; therefore, it is recommended that the Building, Development Services, and Public Works fees become effective April 1, 2025 and all other fees, fines and penalties will be effective February 1, 2025.