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Report regarding a resolution to adopt proposed amendments to the Public Works Engineering Division section of the City of South San Francisco Master Fee Schedule for Fiscal Year 2021-2022 (Jason Hallare, Senior Civil Engineer; Matt Ruble, Principal Engineer)
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RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
Staff recommends the City Council of South San Francisco adopt a resolution to approve amendments to the Public Works Engineering Division section of the City of South San Francisco Master Fee Schedule for Fiscal Year 2021-2022.
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BACKGROUND
Unlike general city services such as public safety, streets, and other infrastructure that benefit the entire community which are primarily supported by tax revenues, discretionary services that benefit a specific user group are typically funded in whole, or in part, by user fees. Any amount not covered by user fees is then subsidized, typically by General Fund tax dollars or other available sources. Under State law, public agencies are permitted to recover the costs associated with providing certain services considered to be a "personal choice" or "user fees." Such services are provided to a specific customer for their singular benefit. Some examples of those services are building permits or recreation classes, which benefit the individual and not the community.
Propositions 218 and 26 amended Article XIII C of the California Constitution to place restrictions on local government's ability to levy charges. Among the restrictions is a limitation on most user fees, prohibiting them from exceeding the reasonable cost of the service for which they are collected. The Constitution imposes other limits on other kinds of charges for local government services, use of government property, and penalties and fines, for example. While the City Council can set fees by a simple majority vote, any fee that exceeds the reasonable cost of providing the service or benefit becomes a tax, which requires approval by the electorate. In ord...
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