City Departments collect a wide variety of fees for permits, services, fines and other charges that are all part of everyday operations of municipal government.  Since September 2008, the fees have been incorporated into a single fee schedule.  Ordinance 08-M-43 established the consolidated fee schedule and allows for the modification of existing fees to be done by resolution while new fees are established or added to the Fee Schedule by ordinance.

The Fee Schedule ordinance provides a single document with all City fees that directly affect the users. The changes to the fees ensure the continued operation of public utilities, provides for essential services to the community and to adequately maintain the investment in existing infrastructure.  All changes to the fee schedule will have an effective date of October 1, 2026.

City Secretary 
For convenience, staff recommends posting the entire state license list that Schertz should charge. The fees listed previously were those that were most common in Schertz, however staff believes including all types of fees would prevent confusion when new situations arise. All of these fees are set by the state and are only listed here for easy reference.
 
Library
The library will add a section for Lost & Damaged Materials related to Technology. Fees charged will be the cost to replace the items. The Toddler Tote Bag will no longer be offered and is removed from the Fee Schedule.

Event Facilities
The Community Centers' fees are recommended to change based on the rental day. The per hour fee for the low times, Sunday through Thursday, will be moved to Monday through Friday. The weekend rates will be updated to Half Day and Full Day, and the daily maximum charge will be removed from the Fee Schedule. The Damage Deposit will also be removed for Community Centers' Fees and any damages will be billed to the customer directly. Finally, the Community Center at 1400 Schertz Parkway will include a new set of room rates for the Conference room and fees for Audio/Visual support are now included in those rates.

Parks
Parks will be adding rental fees for the Schertz Area Senior Center. Fees are set to match current offerings from Schertz and surrounding comparable rental spaces. This will allow the facility to be used whenever space is available in between senior programs. 

Animal Services
Animal Adoption fees for Dogs and Cats are recommended to decrease $10 each to $50 and $25, respectively. This fee decrease is meant to encourage additional adoption rates for these pets.

Neighborhood Services
Mobile Vendor registration and fees expired July 1, 2026. Since then, the State has started licensing mobile vendors in accordance with HB 2844. Related fees can no longer be charged and are removed from the fee schedule.

Emergency Medical Service (EMS)
EMS proposes to increase Response Services by $50 each. These are for transports that require ambulance medical services and not simply transportation to a hospital. This increase is estimated to generate an additional $500,000 in revenue for the EMS Fund and is part of the recommendation to bring the fund out of its deficit. Standby rates are also recommended to increase by $25 to better match the cost of providing an ambulance or other staff at School or other events.

Water & Sewer
Water rates are proposed to increase 8% and Sewer rates by 8% for residential and commercial accounts. These rates are to match the upcoming capital projects identified in the Capital Improvements Plan (CIP) in addition to the Southern Wastewater Treatment Plan Expansion in coordination with Cibolo Creek Municipal Authority, the City of Cibolo, and the Guadalupe Valley Special Utility District. These proposed rate increases are directly tied to these projects which are necessary for the continued growth seen in the community.

Garbage rates will increase 3.8% after a formal notice from Frontier Waste Solutions. The rate increase was to match the Consumer Price Index (CIP), US City Average, All Urban Consumers, Garbage and Trash Collection, Not Seasonally Adjusted, for the twelve-month period ending May 31, 2026. The letter is provided to this agenda item for reference.

Based on these increases, the average consumer with 10,000 gallons of water use, 5,000 gallons of wastewater/sewer, and no additional trash bins, could see a combined increase of $7.91 monthly.
 

To pdate the Adopted Fee Schedule for FY 2026-27.

Provide a single place for information on City fees.

Staff recommends council approve the proposed changes to the fees schedule.

The overall impact of the Library, Event Facilities, Animal Services, Parks, and Neighborhood Services will be minimal to the General Fund and mostly offset the specific charges they target.

The EMS fee changes could add $500,000 in additional revenue for the fund which is needed to meet rising costs of providing services.

The Water and Sewer changes would generate $2,072,000 in additional revenue to offset the capital costs identified in the CIP.

The Garbage Fee increase would be passed on to Frontier Waste Solutions and is estimated to generate $152,000 from residential customers.

 

Adopt Ordinance 26-M-025 and updated fees for FY 2026-27