RCS Logo
  • Home

  • Consulting

    • Consulting Overview
    • Cost Allocation Plan
    • Cost of Services Fee Study
    • Development Impact Fee
  • Software

    • Software Overview
    • Indirect Module
    • Direct Module
    • SimpliCity Budget
    • Software Support
  • Team

    • Rick Kermer
    • Eric Johnson
    • Scott Thorpe
    • Chu Thai
  • Clients

  • Project Highlights

  • Blog

  • More

    Use tab to navigate through the menu items.
    • All Posts
    • Cost Allocation Plans
    • Budgeting
    • Service Fees
    • Development Impact Fees
    • General
    Search
    Eric Johnson
    • 2 days ago
    • 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...
    11 views0 comments
    Eric Johnson
    • Nov 15, 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...
    27 views0 comments
    But Wait…There’s More! A Fee Study Gives You More Than Additional Revenues
    Chu Thai
    • Sep 14, 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...
    14 views0 comments
    Another Look at Proposition 26
    Eric Johnson
    • 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...
    31 views0 comments
    Modified Deposit Fees to the Rescue
    Rick Kermer
    • Jun 15, 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...
    37 views0 comments
    Evolution of the Hourly Rate
    Rick Kermer
    • Feb 15, 2021
    • 3 min

    Evolution of the Hourly Rate

    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...
    37 views0 comments
    Do You Need a Fee Audit?
    Eric Johnson
    • Nov 16, 2020
    • 2 min

    Do You Need a Fee Audit?

    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...
    22 views0 comments
    Just be yourself and don’t compare
    Chu Thai
    • Mar 8, 2020
    • 2 min

    Just be yourself and don’t compare

    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...
    16 views0 comments
    Eric Johnson
    • Oct 14, 2019
    • 2 min

    Is it bad to show a profit?

    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...
    7 views0 comments
    -
    • Aug 12, 2019
    • 2 min

    Do Development Fees Affect Home Sales?

    At about every other Council or town-hall meeting I attend there is the question about whether development fees (planning fees, permit...
    6 views0 comments
    Eric Johnson
    • Jun 7, 2019
    • 3 min

    Credit Card Processing Fees

    Since there is a lot of interest in credit card processing and convenience fees recently, I thought this would be a great time to write...
    10 views0 comments
    Rick Kermer
    • May 12, 2019
    • 3 min

    Framing the Case for Fees

    As the typical reader of the RCS blog articles, you are a technically skilled government finance professional and can make a strong...
    5 views0 comments
    Chu Thai
    • Apr 16, 2019
    • 3 min

    Services Limited by State Laws

    While performing a fee update and going through the hundreds of different fees and fines which a city may have, we noticed some fees...
    42 views0 comments
    Eric Johnson
    • Feb 9, 2019
    • 3 min

    Costing Recreation Services

    As part of a Cost of Services Study we are usually asked to provide the full cost of Recreation services and then make recommendations to...
    1 view0 comments
    Eric Johnson
    • Oct 23, 2018
    • 2 min

    Comprehensive or Targeted Fee Study

    There are two different approaches to doing a Fee Study.  You can either do a comprehensive study that involves the entire organization...
    5 views0 comments
    Rick Kermer
    • Jun 18, 2018
    • 3 min

    Cost Studies

    The same person who is credited with inventing accounting, Luca Pacioli, an Italian mathematician from the 15th century, is also credited...
    2 views0 comments
    Eric Johnson
    • May 13, 2018
    • 2 min

    Government as a Business

    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...
    0 views0 comments
    Eric Johnson
    • Oct 28, 2017
    • 2 min

    Next Steps After a Fee Update

    So you have just updated your fees and you are justifiably proud of this accomplishment.  Now, what’s next?  You could just rest on your...
    1 view0 comments
    Rick Kermer
    • Sep 17, 2017
    • 3 min

    Fee Increases in Between Cost Studies

    When I first started doing Cost Studies, cities were unlikely to know the cost of their services let alone charge what the services cost....
    0 views0 comments
    Eric Johnson
    • Jun 14, 2017
    • 2 min

    Are Credit Card Processing Fees for You?

    For many years the credit card industry vigorously fought against any effort to charge a processing fee to use a credit card.  Credit...
    0 views0 comments
    1
    23

    Revenue & Cost Specialists

    cost@revenuecost.com

    1519 E Chapman Ave, Ste C
    Fullerton, CA 92831

    (714) 992-9020

    ©2020 by Revenue & Cost Specialists