To say it’s been a while since the Sedona Community Development Department raised its fees is a bit of an understatement.
After not being requested to do so for 16 years, the Sedona City Council approved the new fee schedule during the Tuesday, Aug. 13, meeting. The established fee schedule is intended to cover the costs and expenses associated with examining, processing, conducting field inspections, publishing legal notices, and meeting with developer and builder applicants, a city report states. These fees were last updated in August 2003.
“Tonight is a culmination of a year-long effort in examining our Community Development fee schedule, which last changed in 2003,” Assistant Director of Community Development Warren Campbell said, noting that an attempt was made in 2008 but abandoned due to the recession. Since last discussing this in May, the city has given a 90-day notice period and since then had not received any public feedback. Part of Campbell’s research effort included talking with cities near Sedona as well as others throughout the state that may be comparable, such as Cottonwood, Flagstaff and Scottsdale.
“The goal was to try and determine the true cost of our services,” Campbell said.
When determining the fees, he took into account not only the employee time needed but also internet, hardware and software services in addition to the cost of sending out notices to the public.
“We tried to take into account any aspect that may involve a cost for these review services,” he said. “The proposed fees try and strike a balance of those fees charged by adjacent communities so we’re not totally an outlier.”
The updated fee schedule will now be included within the city’s consolidated fee schedule, which is reviewed annually.
The city’s finance department provided support in conducting a cost of service study to quantify the staff hours and costs associated with each application/ review, the report states.
Average time spent on various applications/ processes was identified and associated personnel costs were calculated based on a percentage [typically 80%] of the maximum hourly rate from the current salary schedule plus the average fringe benefit rate for each position involved. Program-specific overhead costs were also calculated.
At the May meeting, Councilman Bill Chisholm asked why the city is not recouping the full amount of the cost associated with these fees.
“I am not aware of a single community that captures 100% of their true costs to administer their applications,” Campbell said.
On those lines, Vice Mayor John Martinez said he was all in favor of cost recovery and pointed out that 90 percent of the permits listed have a higher actual cost than what will be charged to the applicant. But, he said he realizes that few cities recoup the costs incurred to provide services to its citizens.
“We want to be cognizant of the cost of doing business,” City Manager Justin Clifton said at the prior meeting. “We’ve created a lot of the standards that need to be administered. It can be perceived as a double whammy to say that we are going to have strict standards and then say we want you to pay for them.”
Ron Eland can be reached at 282-7795, ext. 122 or by email at reland@larsonnewspapers.com
