HUNTINGTON BEACH : Fees Must Be Hiked, City Council Is Told

An increase in many city fees will be necessary if the 1992-93 budget is to be balanced, City Administrator Michael T. Uberuaga said this week.

Uberuaga told the City Council at its meeting Monday that the proposed increases would be designed to shift to users the exact cost of city services, such as inspecting development plans and responding to false fire alarms.

“This (proposal to increase fees) is a way to finance city services,” Uberuaga said. “As you give services, you charge for those services.”

No specifics were discussed, but Uberuaga said the list of proposed fee increases will be presented to the City Council this month, when it will begin to hammer out a budget for the new fiscal year. That budget must be approved by the council before July 1.

The subject of increased fees came up as the council heard a report from a consultant company, Management Services Institute, which concluded that too many special services that could be funded by fees are being subsidized by the city’s general fund, which pays for police, fire protection and other major costs of municipal government.

In addition to recommending increased fees for city services, the consultants also urged the city to form assessment districts and charge property owners for such services as street lighting and tree maintenance.

Both Uberuaga and City Council members, however, said they do not favor trying to start assessment districts. Uberuaga said he did not think the idea was politically feasible.

Councilman Don MacAllister said he was certain that residents would rebel if the city tried to form assessment districts. “If we started doing that, the whole City Council would be recalled in about 30 days,” MacAllister said.