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CITY OF REDWOOD CITY, CALIFORNIA <br />Cost of Services (User Fee) Study <br />Matrix Consulting Group Page 5 <br />As the graph shows, City Clerk and Finance and Parks, Recreation & Community <br />Services divisions are maintaining a cost recovery level higher than typically seen for <br />other jurisdictions, while Library at 14% and Public Works at 99% are within the typical <br />range of cost recovery for their respective services. <br />In recent years, more local jurisdictions have adopted formal cost recovery <br />policies at the department / division level. The Matrix Consulting Group considers a <br />formalized cost recovery policy for various fees for service an industry Best <br />Management Practice. The cost recovery policy defines a different level of cost recovery <br />for each department / division directly related to the service it provides to the public. If it <br />is a department that is primarily related to providing services that benefit residents as a <br />whole such as police, fire, or parks and recreation the cost recovery policy is typically <br />lower than departments / divisions such as Building or planning which primarily benefit <br />private users of service. Therefore, having clear policy goals, enables City staff and <br />council to set fees that are in compliance with that policy as well as serve the overall <br />philosophy of the City. <br /> (2) Adopt an Annual Fee Update / Increase Mechanism <br /> The purpose of a comprehensive update is to completely revisit the analytical <br />structure, service level estimates and assumptions applied to the previous fee schedule, <br />and to account for any major shifts in cost components or organizational structures. The <br />Matrix Consulting Group believes it is a Best Management Practice to perform a <br />complete update of a Fee Assessment every 3 to 5 years. <br /> In between comprehensive updates, the City could utilize published industry <br />economic factors such as CPI or other regional factors to update the cost calculations <br />7.A. - Page 17