Posted on 24 March 2016 by La Habra Journal
By Jay Seidel
La Habra Journal
The La Habra City Council will discuss proposed increases and adjustments to individual and commercial fees at the next city council meeting on April 4.
The Council voted to table the matter until the next meeting to allow for more time to see all of the proposed fee adjustments. The city council hired a management research and consulting firm, MGT America, last year to conduct a study of city fee-related services in order to identify fees that could be adjusted to reflect the city’s cost to provide that service, identify opportunities to implement new fees and develop revenue projections based on the proposed fee structure. It is also to come in line with the annual adjustment by the Consumer Price Index. While the city has made annual adjustments, it has been ten years since an analysis of fees was conducted. The MGT study factored the hourly rates of staff members providing the service and the amount of time devoted to providing that service. They specifically looked at recreation, facility rentals, police services, finance, city clerk services, engineering, planning and building fee services. The study showed that the city is currently covering the cost, or subsidizing, 43 percent of the current city fees. Based on the study, the average annual cost for services is $4,071,487 and the city is generating $2,326,184 in fee-based revenue annually. The city is then subsidizing $1,745,303 for the work to provide these services. The study broke down each fee in each city area while making the report. While most fees are recommended to increase, some outdated or unused service fees are recommended to be deleted.
The City Council will address this again at the April 4 meeting to determine if the fees will be increased and which fees will be increased.
