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...

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

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

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...

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

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

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...

The City needs capital additions to its many infrastructures in order to continue to be able meet the service demand needs of new...

When the authors of Proposition 4 in 1979 were writing the ballot measure it was based on the idea that government should act more like a...

A recent question on the CSMFO website was from a finance director that wondered what to do when the fiscal year had twenty-seven pay...

I am certainly happy that we’re in 2021, and there’s a vaccine for the virus which has affected all our lives and killed over 2 Million...

The last thing I ever needed to hear from one of my clients was “We are being sued over our impact fees”. Never fun. But that is just...

After going through the process of doing a Fee Study and getting the fees approved by your Council, your thoughts turn to having a really...

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

My hometown is asking voters to approve a sales tax increase of 1.25% in November 2020. I know they need the money, but it is certainly a...

In July of 2017, I wrote my first RCS article about Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) in which I merely identified the differing types of...

There are four players in the development game: developers, contractors, landowners and residents. Each plays a critical role, and each...

In just about every project we work on our client city asks for a fee comparison to neighboring cities. And just about every time we...

Most every municipal finance officer is aware of the five findings (in Government Code §66000) required to adopt development impact...

We all know that government is not allowed to make a profit on the services that it provides.  While there are exceptions with the rental...