Blog | Revenue & Cost Specialists

Feb 14
2 min

Zoom, Zoom, Zoom, Let's go meet in my room

So, I can crunch numbers all night…and make it all right. Yeah, video conferencing has become a part of my workplace, and in my opinion,...

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Jan 24
1 min

CSMFO Conference

If you are attending the CSMFO Conference in Sacramento next week, please stop by Booth 200 and say Hi. And if you are coming on Tuesday,...

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Gregory Brown

Nov 15, 2022
2 min

Can Impact Fees Cover Operational Costs?

Can Development Impact Fees (DIFs) cover operational costs? This question eventually comes up in every DIF meeting I have ever attended...

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Oct 11, 2022
3 min

A Discussion of Development Impact Fees

On September 8th of this year, I had the opportunity to attend the League of California Cities annual conference as a speaker. I’m kind...

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Sep 11, 2022
2 min

The Nuts and Bolts of Getting Your Fees Approved

So, you’ve just spent the last number of months developing a Cost of Services Study with recommendations to update your fees, and now...

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Aug 14, 2022
4 min

Econ & Psych 101 and the Overconsumption of Water

How a review of basic economics and psychology can help us solve the "water crisis."

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Jul 18, 2022
6 min

Setting the Record Straight on PRA Fees

The California Public Records Act (PRA), all the supplementary legislation, and numerous court decisions has made it clear and specific...

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Jun 12, 2022
3 min

How not to calculate Development Impact Fees - How AB 602 may affect you

2022 brought into law a new effort to standardize Development Impact Fees with the passage of AB 602, which, among other things, requires...

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May 15, 2022
2 min

How often is enough? When should you update your fees

As a fee consultant, the question that I get asked most often is, “How often should we be updating our fees?” Once I dispose of the...

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Apr 10, 2022
2 min

Seeking Civil Society - Redux

“Yes, Virginia, It Does Matter Whose Ox is Gored.” I’m sincerely interested in promoting civil society. As a preface to this article, I...

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Feb 10, 2022
1 min

CSMFO Conference

If you are attending the CSMFO Conference in San Diego next week, please stop by Booth 313 and say Hi. And if you are coming on Tuesday,...

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Nov 14, 2021
2 min

Taxes already pay staff’s salaries, don’t they?

A question that I am often asked by City Council members is, “Aren’t taxes already paying staff’s salaries, so why do we need to worry...

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Oct 17, 2021
3 min

Preparing for Climate Change as a Finance Director

I remember enjoying the early Tom Clancy novels. In 1994, I heard that his latest novel, Debt of Honor, involved a commercial airliner...

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But Wait…There’s More! A Fee Study Gives You More Than Additional Revenues

Sep 13, 2021
3 min

But Wait…There’s More! A Fee Study Gives You More Than Additional Revenues

The common understanding is that a fee study is performed to increase city revenues (even though the conversation should be about...

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Aug 15, 2021
2 min

The Effect of Time on Saved Money

I’m going to keep this short, but I think it’s powerful. It’s about what happens to your saved money over time. I was recently contacted...

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Jul 11, 2021
2 min

Another Look at Proposition 26

In a recent article, I talked about Proposition 4, passed in 1979, as the godfather of voter initiatives that defined service fees and...

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Jun 14, 2021
3 min

Modified Deposit Fees to the Rescue

After calculating the full cost for a current development-related application, the RCS effort turns to the process of cost recovery by...

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May 16, 2021
2 min

Always give 100% at work

I always give 100% at work; 10% on Monday, another 20% on Tuesday, 40% on Wednesday, almost done with another 10% on Thursday, and the...

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