OJAI : Council Backs Plan to Boost Service Fees

Fees for services provided by the city of Ojai could more than double under a consultant’s proposal to recoup diminishing revenues by increasing the cost of various services.

Citing escalating costs and an ever-shrinking budget, the City Council on Tuesday gave preliminary approval to the fee-increase plan, which would, for example, raise the cost of a zone change from $750 to $2,268 or more.

Suzanne Bragdon of Ralph Andersen & Associates said many cities in California have been re-examining their user fees because of continuing budget cuts made by the Legislature.

“If (cities) don’t identify ways to recoup some of those costs, then you’re looking at service reductions,” she said.

More than 115 services provided by the city will be affected by the change, which seeks to establish a fee equal to the cost of processing the application.

“We’re not going to subsidize user fees,” said Mayor Steve Olsen. “People will pay actual costs for services.”

But several key service costs would be lowered under the plan, including some use permits, maps and variances.

By and large, however, the bulk of the services would be increased.

For example, sign permits would increase from $50 to $123; home occupation permits would rise from $30 to $63; environmental impact reports would increase from $100 to between $1,325 and $3,839; and general plan amendments would be raised from $1,500 to between $2,899 and $4,085.

The city paid the consultant $19,000 for the study, which concluded that Ojai revenues would increase by $206,000 if the fee schedule is fully implemented.

A public hearing on the proposal is scheduled for March 8 at the Ojai City Hall.