Introduce Ordinance #18-16:  2019 Schedule of Rates, Fees and Charges

The city annually adopts a schedule of rates, fees and charges which outlines the fees that the city charges for such items as building construction, business licenses, utility rates, and planning and zoning. 

A listing of the schedule of rates, fees and charges is attached.  Changes are noted on the far right column of the schedule.  The majority of the changes from 2018 to 2019 are reflective in Building Construction, Facility/Park Usage,  Planning and Zoning related to Park Dedication Fees and in the Utility Rates section. 

In the Building Construction section, staff is proposing a decrease in permit fees to reflect the cost savings of having incorporated online permitting. The staff time spent on data entry has significantly decreased since the implementation of ePermits. Additionally, our plan review timeframe has been reduced by approximately 50%, all while increasing the quality of review and project management. Finally, a few flat-rate permits have been reduced in an attempt to increase compliance. There are a number of permits that the City believes receive low compliance in obtaining permits including, but not limited to decks, fences, and sheds. The City is still able to capture necessary costs for administer permits as a whole, including a percentage of administration and overhead for the overall organization attributed to staffing a Building Inspection Division.

Under the Facility/Park Usage the fees are now outlined under the Facility Use and Rental Policy and have been removed from the regular schedule of rates, fees and charges for simplicity of use.  The amended 2019 rates are to be presented at the Park and Rec Commission meeting of November 8, 2018.  The proposed 2019 Municipal Center Conference Room Rentals and Park Facilities Rental Rates are attached..

Under the Planning and Zoning Section:  Park Dedication Fees the fees for parks dedication and trails have been increased due to the demand for parks and trails as new development continues to occur.  The City of Ramsey's current residential park dedication fee is $3,000 per unit whereas commercial/assisted living park dedication  is $5,000 per acre and industrial $4,300 per acre.  The 2019 proposal is a $50 increase for residential, $75 increase for industrial and $100 increase for commercial/assisted living facilities.  Several park projects, are listed in a Parks Supplemental Section to the City's Capital Improvement Plan as there is not enough funding to support these projects at this time or foreseeable future.  The proposed increases are to be presented at the Park and Rec Commission meeting of November 8, 2018.

The utility section has been updated to reflect the following increases:  water usage rates at 2.0% per quarter and Connection Charges (both sewer and water) at 2.5% which are per the 2017 Comprehensive Sewer and Water Studies, water and sewer laterals at 3% increase for residential and commercial construction based on the construction cost index average since 2012, and an 8% increase in quarterly storm water utility rates, to establish funding for upcoming storm water projects in the next few years per the 2019-2028 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP).  All of the proposed utility rates are lower than the average 2018 metro rates for like utilities. 

The Schedule of Rates, Fees and Charges are adopted annually by ordinance.  A public hearing on the ordinance is normally held in November to allow the thirty-day waiting period and have the rates become effective January 1, 2019. 

Options:
  1.  Accept the rates as proposed. 

  2.  Hold all rates constant with 2018 rates.

  3.  Recommend changes that arise from input at public hearing.

Staff's recommendation is to Introduce Ordinance #18-16:  2019 Schedule of Rates, Fees and Charges.

Introduce Ordinance #18-16:  2019 Schedule of Rates, Fees and Charges.