Approve General Fund Contingency request of $42,272 to fund a fee study (contract total $82,272) for the Department of Agriculture, Assessor/Clerk-Recorder/Elections Department, and Animal Services Division of the Department of Community Services and adopt budget resolution appropriating funds for the fee study in the FY2023-24 budget of the Department of Financial Services. (General fund impact $42,272) (4/5 vote required) (Liddicoet)

The Department of Financial Services is requesting $42,272 in General Fund contingency in order to fully fund a fee study for the Agriculture and Assessor/Clerk-Recorder/Elections departments along with the Animal Services division of Department of Community Services.  Funding in the amount of $40,000 for this fee study was approved as part of the FY2023-24 Adopted Budget. However, once the solicitation was completed, it was determined that the amount approved during the budget process was not adequate.  Despite a lengthy solicitation timeline, only one response to our solicitation was received at a total cost of $82,272.  

This fee study has been requested by the participating departments who, in many cases, have fees that have not been updated in over a decade. DFS will be overseeing the work on this fee study and will ensure that the results are incorporated into the FY2024-25 Adopted Budget. It is anticipated that the long-term benefit from increased revenue resulting from this fee study will more than cover the cost of the study itself. 

The Department of Financial Services has collaborated with the County Administrators Office on this item.  County Counsel has reviewed the budget resolution.