At about every other Council or town-hall meeting I attend there is the question about whether development fees (planning fees, permit...

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...

As the typical reader of the RCS blog articles, you are a technically skilled government finance professional and can make a strong...

While performing a fee update and going through the hundreds of different fees and fines which a city may have, we noticed some fees...

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...

There are two different approaches to doing a Fee Study.  You can either do a comprehensive study that involves the entire organization...

The same person who is credited with inventing accounting, Luca Pacioli, an Italian mathematician from the 15th century, is also credited...

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...

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...

When I first started doing Cost Studies, cities were unlikely to know the cost of their services let alone charge what the services cost....

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

Nine years ago, I wrote the following article. Since the concepts are just as relevant today, I’m reprinting it with some editorial...

It is generally understood that you need a resolution at a public hearing to set fees.  But is that correct?  It turns out that is not...

Every so often I’ll hear about Edison or the Gas Company telling a City that they cannot be charged an encroachment permit to plan check...

In the world of fees in California, there are a couple of ballot measures that get all of the love.  Everyone remembers Proposition 218...

I started in local government when Planning, Programming, Budgeting (PPB) was introduced as a way to more effectively and efficiently use...

With the search for every spare drop of water due to the drought and the concurrent need to remove pollutants from stormwater, there is a...

The Commons Dilemma was first discussed in 1968. To set the stage, a society was envisioned where all members were able to use its common...

Yes, we have a drought and it critical that we do something about it. But, we need to do something smart and the criminalization of water...

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...