SAN CLEMENTE : City to Spend $55,000 to Study Fee Plans

The City Council has earmarked $55,000 to study a proposed utility fee and a street maintenance assessment district in an effort to deal with an aging infrastructure.

In a 4-1 vote Wednesday, the council said there is no way to avoid spending money in order to get the necessary information about the proposal to raise fees to repair the city’s streets and storm drains.

“We’ve really neglected our streets and storm drains for too long,” Councilman Joseph Anderson said. “Unfortunately, we’ve got to spend some money in order to make an informed decision. That’s the bottom line.”

Councilman Thomas Lorch voted against the action, saying the city should hold a workshop on cutting costs before paying for a study on the fee proposal.

If approved, the fees would cost a typical homeowner about $130 a year, according to preliminary estimates.

City officials estimate that it would cost between $75,000 and $90,000 to create the assessment district and collect the utility fee. Those figures include the cost of mailing notices to all property owners.

Officials recently requested that three private firms submit proposals on establishing the assessment district and utility fee and for administering the existing Lighting and Landscape District. It will cost about $55,000 to hire one of the consultants to come up with fee and assessment figures.

The council will consider information gathered by the consultant in May before making a final decision on whether to pursue the fees.

During a public hearing Wednesday, several residents complained about paying consultants to do the work and said that the city should make more budget cuts, including pay cuts, before raising fees.

“We are willing to pay, but not to this extent,” resident Joyce Roy said.

City Engineer William Cameron said he does not have a large enough staff or other resources necessary to do the studies by July 1, the date by which the council has said it wishes to create a utility fee and assessment district.

“There’s just no way to get around it,” he said about the need for consultants.

A council majority last month voted to consider the storm drain-street sweeping utility fee to raise about $970,000 annually and the street maintenance assessment district to meet about $1.4 million in yearly needs.

The council has said that, as a last resort, it would also be willing to consider a utility tax to compensate for a potential loss of about $1.5 million in property tax revenue to the state. The council has not yet considered that option in more detail.

All three options could be approved by a majority vote of the council.

The city is facing a total estimated shortfall of $6.35 million in the coming fiscal year, including the unmet infrastructure improvement needs.

Although a council majority recently voted to disband the Police Department and contract for law enforcement services with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, that action will offset the projected shortfall only by about $2 million, officials said.