HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 12 - Fee Schedule Memo
MAYOR & COUNCIL COMMUNICATION
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DATE: December 16, 2014 CONSENT ITEM #12 AGENDA ITEM: Adoption of Amended 2015 Fee Schedule
SUBMITTED BY: Adam Bell, Assistant City Administrator/City Clerk
THROUGH: Dean Zuleger, City Administrator
REVIEWED BY: Beckie Gumatz, Program Assistant
SUGGESTED ORDER OF BUSINESS (if removed from the consent agenda):
- Introduction of Item .............................................................. City Administrator
- Report/Presentation…………………………………………City Administrator
- Questions from Council to Staff ............................................. Mayor Facilitates
- Call for Motion ............................................................... Mayor & City Council
- Discussion ....................................................................... Mayor & City Council
- Action on Motion .................................................................... Mayor Facilitates POLICY RECOMMENDER: Staff FISCAL IMPACT: Specific annual dollar amount impact is not available at this time. Several fees are being increased to more accurately account for the time spent to provide services and costs to city. This therefore should provide an increase in revenue if the volume of service
provided is the same.
SUMMARY AND ACTION REQUESTED: The City Council is respectfully requested to adopt Ordinance 08-115, An Ordnance Amending the Lake Elmo Fee Schedule. As part of its consent agenda, no formal motion is required. If Council would like to remove this item from
the Consent Agenda, the suggested motion is as follows:
“Move to approve Ordinance 08-115, An Ordinance Amending the Lake Elmo Fee Schedule.” LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: It is incumbent upon the City to continually and regularly review
the Municipal Fee Schedule to ensure that it is in compliance with state and local law as well as continually able to be justified. Below are the changes/modifications being proposed to the Lake Elmo Fee Schedule for 2015:
• Change Administrative Appeal (to Board of Adjustment and Appeals) amount to better
reflect true cost to city.
City Council Meeting [Consent Agenda Item 12]
December 16, 2013
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• Clarify Cancelled AND/OR Refunded Building Permits are subject to processing fee.
• Add fee to cover cost to city for issuing Duplicate Inspection Card.
• Change Easement Encroachment amount to better reflect true cost to city.
• Change GIS Scaled Aerial Map amount to better reflect true cost to city.
• Change Inspection outside of business hours amount to better reflect increased cost to city and discourage practice.
• Remove Separate Scaled Aerial Drawing fee.
• Remove separate Site Plan Review fee that was originally set up for specific properties in city that no longer applies.
• Add Surface Water Review Fee to recover additional cost borne by city for monitoring
the impact to storm ponds by new construction terrain alteration.
• Change Water Meter (3/4" or less) amount to reflect actual cost to city.
• Add Zoning Certification Letter fee to recover cost to city. The City receives requests from property owners, financial and mortgage institutions, appraisers, and others to
formally verify the zoning of a property. The zoning letter typically clarifies if the existing use, or future proposed uses, are permitted under the parcel’s zoning designation. Other cities typically charge $25-$100 for this service. BACKGROUND INFORMATION (SWOT): Strengths Keeping the Fee Schedule up-to-date helps the City ensure that it is in compliance with state and local laws. It also helps to provide correct information to residents who pay for city services. Updating many items on the Fee Schedule at one time reduces the number of times this item must come before City Council. Weaknesses At times, after further information or data is available, fees may need to be periodically adjusted. Opportunities The Fee Schedule should be updated annually and throughout the year as needed. Staff currently does this and should strive to stay ahead of any required fee changes. Threats Any fee that is not statutorily specified is subject to legal challenge. Short
of being legally challenged, any fee the City imposes is subject to being challenged by the individual responsible for paying the fee. It is incumbent on staff to stay up to date on the law and make sure that each fee is reasonable, comparable, and can be justified and legally defended. RECOMMENDATION: The City Council is respectfully requested to adopt Ordinance 08-115,
An Ordnance Amending the Lake Elmo Fee Schedule. As part of its consent agenda, no formal
motion is required. If Council would like to remove this item from the Consent Agenda, the suggested motion is as follows:
“Move to approve Ordinance 08-115, An Ordinance Amending the Lake Elmo Fee Schedule.”
ATTACHMENTS: 1. Ordinance 08-115
2. 2015 City of Lake Elmo Fee Schedule
3. Fee Schedule Modifications Summary