| AGENDA ITEM #: 2. DATE: 06/14/2021 AI #:117 |
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CITY COUNCIL ACTION REPORT
| SUBJECT: | USER FEE COST OF SERVICE STUDY |
| STAFF PRESENTER(S): | Doug Sandstrom, Finance Director |
OTHER PRESENTER(S):
Stephen Scinto, Deputy Director of Engineering
Debbie White, Permit Administrator
Katie Wilken, Planning Manager
Debbie White, Permit Administrator
Katie Wilken, Planning Manager
SUMMARY
Staff will present the report of findings, stakeholder outreach and discuss details regarding the City’s user fee and cost of service study.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact at this time, as no action will be taken. The presentation is for informational purposes only.
BACKGROUND AND PREVIOUS ACTIONS
The city retained the services of MGT Consulting to conduct the City's 2021 User Fee Study which was completed in April 2021. On April 21, 2021, pursuant to A.R.S. § 9-499.15, a Public Notice of Proposed Fee Increases was posted to the city's webpage along with the City's User Fee Report and Individual Fee Summaries by department. A dedicated email address was created and made available to the public through a link on the webpage. On April 23, 2021, an email providing the Public Notice and link to the city's webpage was sent to developers. The city then hosted a virtual Development Advisory Forum on June 1, 2021, with Development Services, Engineering, and Finance staff present and available to answer questions.
On January 4th council adopted P&R user fees developed in phase I of this user fee study. These fees were adopted separately due to the requirements to have them in place prior to the opening of the recreation campus. The fees to be discussed during the work session are all remaining non-utility user fees.The city retained the services of MGT Consulting to conduct the City's 2021 User Fee Study which was completed in April 2021. On April 21, 2021, pursuant to A.R.S. § 9-499.15, a Public Notice of Proposed Fee Increases was posted to the city's webpage along with the City's User Fee Report and Individual Fee Summaries by department. A dedicated email address was created and made available to the public through a link on the webpage. On April 23, 2021, an email providing the Public Notice and link to the city's webpage was sent to developers. The city then hosted a virtual Development Advisory Forum on June 1, 2021, with Development Services, Engineering, and Finance staff present and available to answer questions. To date few questions have been received and all have been to clarify process or use.
On January 4th council adopted P&R user fees developed in phase I of this user fee study. These fees were adopted separately due to the requirements to have them in place prior to the opening of the recreation campus. The fees to be discussed during the work session are all remaining non-utility user fees.The city retained the services of MGT Consulting to conduct the City's 2021 User Fee Study which was completed in April 2021. On April 21, 2021, pursuant to A.R.S. § 9-499.15, a Public Notice of Proposed Fee Increases was posted to the city's webpage along with the City's User Fee Report and Individual Fee Summaries by department. A dedicated email address was created and made available to the public through a link on the webpage. On April 23, 2021, an email providing the Public Notice and link to the city's webpage was sent to developers. The city then hosted a virtual Development Advisory Forum on June 1, 2021, with Development Services, Engineering, and Finance staff present and available to answer questions. To date few questions have been received and all have been to clarify process or use.
STAFF ANALYSIS
The City of Goodyear has not had a full external cost of service study performed since 2009. The City’s Pretreatment program’s fee study was conducted in 2014. The City contracted with MGT in July 2019 to perform a cost of service study using fiscal year 2020/2021 budgeted figures, staffing, and operational information. The current City fees in this report represent the fees being charged at the beginning of this study and the recommended fees represent the direct cost of providing the specific service. As a best practice, revenues should not exceed the reasonable cost of providing the service. The State of Arizona does not currently have any laws that govern the recovery of user fees. MGT’s recommendations in this report have been vetted with staff and are advisory in nature only. Ultimately Council must decide what fee levels are appropriate.