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....

Many of you have been wrestling with integrating the recently passed State legislation (AB 2299 and SB 1069) that requires most cities to...

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...

I often get asked about two Development Impact Fee “problems.”  The first is the “five-year requirement” and the second is the difficulty...

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...

A little over two years ago I got a call from Chu Thai, the Management Services Director with the City of Monterey Park.  He called to...

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...

I was recently at a council meeting where, during public comments, several individuals targeted specific councilmembers with abusive...

Police management staff often discuss Levels of Service (LOS) staffing in terms of “officers per 1,000 residents.”    Since it is often a...

If the purpose of government is to take some of my money and pool it with some of your money in order to do something that we all benefit...

The calculation of Development Impact Fees (DIFs) sounds very technical and it can be, but the process is not insurmountable.  First off...

A major challenge in local government finance is finding sufficient monies to pay for all the wonderful things our citizens want and/or...

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

The El Nino is a tropical weather pattern with consequences in the northern hemisphere. An El Nino (or more specifically the El Nino...

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...

I have undertaken a great number of development impact fee studies in the Southern California area and as a result I read a lot of...

As most of you are neck deep in your budget, we thought we would share some budgetary pitfalls that we have experienced over the years....