Tehachapi City Council Update

Updated permit fees approved by City Council

In April of 2015 the City Council approved a Services (user) Fee Study from Capital Accounting Partners of Sacramento and the development of a Full Cost Allocation Plan for updating the existing fees charged by the City for services and permits. The study was to determine the true cost to the City for providing services to the community broken down on a per-hour basis per involved employee as well as processing time. The direct costs take into consideration employee wages and benefits and are combined with indirect costs such as facilities and management to reach the actual cost for City permits and approval processes. These values can be used to obtain full cost recovery when writing government grant applications as well as a foundation for various City service fees.

The last time the City adopted an updated fee schedule for community development was 2005. Since that time, the City has experienced major changes in the staff providing services and in regulations governing operations. The City now has full-time staff in Code Enforcement, Building and Engineering and there have been many changes in Building Codes, City Subdivision Standards and Zoning Codes requiring increased levels of service provided by the City.

The User Fee Study results were presented to the City Council by Dan Edds of Capital Accounting Partners. The study contained an update to the fees that are collected in the Building, Engineering, Planning departments and some Police Department fees. The suggested fees listed in the report's six pages of services are based on full cost recovery. However, according to Development Services Director Jay Schlosser, there are circumstances in which full cost recovery is considered a concern. This involves very minor permit services. In these cases, if the cost for the service or permit is high relative to the activity requiring the service or permit, it could lead to code enforcement issues. As an example, Schlosser used the Temporary Use Permit for display of a banner on a business. The actual cost to provide the service is $127 which may be more than the cost of the banner itself. In such cases, City staff recommended fees below the full-cost recovery amount – in this case $20. This list also includes things like patio covers, residential electrical, plumbing and mechanical, sidewalks, curb and gutter, asphalt patch and home occupation.

Councilman-elect Ken Hetge asked the Council if they truly understood the report. "It's complicated," said Hetge and added that, while he is not necessarily against the new fee structure, he would have preferred that they postpone their vote for more study.

Property owner Mike Nixon said that for a number of years, the taxpayers have been subsidizing the costs of building and other permits and "we shouldn't be subject to the cost of someone else's permit".

Schlosser said, "There are no new fees. These are fees that have been collected since at least 2004." "The fees mostly apply to people who are building something, like the new Walmart." he added, "Some of the fees will be up and some down." The study showed that our fee structure is in line with other similar communities. Dan Edds recommended that the fees be reviewed annually with a maximum of every five years. City staff is recommending a review every two or three years. The new fee schedule should result in at least a 15% increase in revenues and will be posted online so people will know the costs up front.

The motion to approve was made by Councilman Grimes and seconded by Councilman Wahlstrom and unanimously approved.

Emergency marijuana ordinance approved

Since Proposition 64 which provides for the use, sale and cultivation of recreational marijuana passed in the Nov. 8 election, City Attorney Tom Schroetter proposed to the City Council on Nov. 21, an interim ordinance prohibiting all commercial non-medical marijuana activity and prohibiting outdoor non-medical marijuana cultivation at private residences in the City.

Private use and the private growing of up to six plants is now legal. By January of 2018, the state has to start issuing permits for commercial sales and cultivation. Cities are now faced with deciding how they want to handle the issue. Individual use and cultivation of six plants cannot be prohibited but cities can prohibit outdoor cultivation and commercial sales.

The emergency ordinance would prohibit the commercial sales and outdoor cultivation of marijuana for a period of 45 days to allow the Council to decide if they want to prohibit or regulate the activities. If more time is needed, they can extend the ordinance for another 10 months and 15 days. Schroetter said that while the State is still developing their procedures, they will not issue a permit for commercial sales in a city where it is prohibited.

The council unanimously approved the emergency ordinance.