(A) Intent and purpose. In adopting the San Benito County master fee schedule (located in Appendix A to this chapter), the Board of Supervisors intends to provide one document that lists all fees for services authorized by the Board of Supervisors. The purpose is to facilitate review and update of the master fee schedule at reasonable and timely intervals, to provide for ease of use and access to fees for county services, and to promote a better understanding by the public of all fees charged by the County of San Benito. Such fees shall not exceed the actual cost of providing the service in compliance with Article XIIB, § 8(c) of the California Constitution.
(B) Findings. The Board of Supervisors hereby adopts the following findings.
(1) Prior to adopting the master fee schedule, the Board held at least one public hearing, at which oral or written presentations could be made, as a part of a regularly scheduled meeting, and that notice of the time and place of the meeting, including a general explanation of the matter to be considered, was published in accordance with Cal. Gov’t Code § 6062a, that at least ten days prior to adoption, this Board made available to the public data indicating the amount of the costs, or estimated costs, required to provide the services for which the fees are levied.
(2) The Board is authorized to adopt and increase fees in an amount reasonably necessary to recover costs of providing any product or service, including indirect costs, pursuant to Cal. Gov’t Code § 54985.
(3) The Board desires to recover the full cost of providing the services specified in the master fee schedule from the parties receiving the services, and the fees reflected in the master fee schedule shall be used to recover the costs of providing such services.
(4) Fees to be adopted or increased herein are based on fee studies that present a reasonable estimate of the costs of providing the applicable services, and demonstrate the proposed fees do not exceed the reasonable estimate of the costs of providing the services for which they are charged, and represent reasonable fees necessary to meet the county's operating expenses pertaining to providing the specified services.
(5) The fees and charges specified by this chapter do not exceed the cost of providing the product or service or enforcing the regulation for which the fee or charge is levied.
(6) The fees set forth in the master fee schedule are charges imposed for specific governmental services provided directly to the payor of the fee, and such services will not be provided to those that are not charged, and only those individuals voluntarily requesting the specified services will be charged the proposed fees.
(C) Master fee schedule. The fees and charges set forth in the master fee schedule, located in Appendix A to this chapter, are hereby established for the following county departments and divisions thereof:
(1) Animal Control;
(2) Agriculture-Weights and Measures;
(3) Assessor Office;
(4) Clerk of the Board of Supervisors;
(5) County Clerk-Recorder-Registrar of Voters;
(6) County Counsel;
(7) Emergency Medical Services;
(8) Environmental Health;
(9) Geographic Information Systems;
(10) Library;
(11) Mental Health;
(12) Public Health;
(13) Probation;
(14) Resource Management Agency;
(15) Sheriff; and
(16) Tax Collector.
(D) Codified fees and charges. The fees and charges adopted herein and included in the master fee schedule shall supersede and replace the fees or charges of the same type, that are specified in chapter 5.01 of this code, or in any other section of this code, or in any resolution of the Board of Supervisors. However, in the event a fee or charge that is specified in chapter 5.01, or in any other section of this code, or in any resolution of the Board of Supervisors, is not expressly included in the master fee schedule, that fee or charge shall remain in full force and effect, and the master fee schedule shall not be deemed to supercede or replace it.
(E) Adoption and revisions to the master fee schedule.
(1) Fees and charges for the county departments listed in this section and in any other county departments, may be added, reduced, increased, or deleted from time to time, by amendments to the master fee schedule, in compliance with state law. The Board may amend the master fee schedule including, but not limited to, fee type, fee amount and the department providing the service, by an ordinance adopted by the Board of Supervisors by majority vote, noticed pursuant to Cal. Gov’t Code § 66016 et seq., during the annual budget process, and at other times of the fiscal year as necessary, provided, however, such amendments may specify therein their applicability, if any, to applications currently in the process of review.
(2) To the extent allowed by law or regulation, fees shall be annually amended to reflect increases in the cost of providing the service including, but not limited to, increases resulting from changes in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) calculated using the United States Department of Labor's Consumer Price Index for All Urban Customers in the San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose, CA metropolitan area. Notwithstanding CPI increases, fee increases shall be based upon and supported by cost studies that provide reasonable substantiation of the cost of providing the service.
(3) Portions of fees and charges in the master fee schedule which are mandated by state or federal law may be automatically adjusted, without benefit of an ordinance amending the master fee schedule when it is necessary to timely apply adjustments to said fees and charges in order to maintain compliance with state or federal law. Individual fees and charges or portions thereof may be waived by the state or federal government if found to be in the public interest.
(Ord. 972, § 2, 2018)