This item presents the proposed Master Fee Resolution for fiscal year 2017-18, incorporating fee changes for the Agriculture Department, Assessor/Clerk-Recorder/Elections, Community Services Department, General Services Department and Health & Human Services Agency.
The Master Fee Resolution, first adopted by the Board of Supervisors in 1991, includes an estimated 1,300 fees and charges for services provided by County departments. The use of a single resolution and integrated fee schedule provides for a systematic review of County fees, and allows for necessary adjustments to reflect changing service delivery costs. The Master Fee Schedule was last updated on January 10, 2017. The sections below describe in further detail the proposed fee changes in the 2017-18 Master Fee Resolution.
Agriculture
The Agriculture Department is proposing to add 12 new fees related for Track and Trace and product laboratory analysis related to the cannabis program.
Section 5-20.04(A)(2) of the Yolo County Ordinance regulating cultivation of medical marijuana provides that persons cultivating medical marijuana shall participate in any track and trace program required by the County and pay any associated fees. The County has entered into an agreement with SICPA Product Security LLP to operate the Track and Trace program. While the cost of this agreement is the responsibility of the cultivators pursuant to the County’s Ordinance, the vendor is unable to charge cultivators directly. As a result, fees must be charged to cultivators and collected by the County, and then passed through to the vendor.
In addition, the Board has directed staff to implement a laboratory testing component for medical marijuana for approved Yolo County cultivators. Under agreement with Steep Hill Labs Inc., the Cannabis Taskforce will sample product before it enters into commerce at a total cost of $348 per sample. Product sampling will include testing for standard potency/cannabinoid profile, microbiological and psuedomonus, mycotoxins, pesticide analysis and heavy metals. As with the Track and Trace program, these fees will be charged to and collected from approved cultivators and passed through to the vendor. There is no net fiscal impact to the County from these fees.
Assessor/Clerk-Recorder/Elections
California Government Code Section 27580 provides that the Board of Supervisors may collect a fee to fund activities that perpetuate County survey monuments. Survey monuments define the land divisions that form the foundation of the County’s economy, and were originally set when the County was divided into townships, ranges, and sections in the 1800s.
On July 10, 2001, the Board of Supervisors adopted a $10 fee on each grant deed recorded by the Clerk-Recorder to fund the County’s Survey Monument Preservation Fund. The revenue has allowed completion of two types of improvements to the County’s survey control network. The more significant has been the retracement of all the monuments in each unincorporated community, followed by the filing of a ‘Record of Survey’ with the County Recorder. This compilation of each town’s survey network into one recorded document will serve as a reference for land surveyors into the future. Second, individual monuments found to be damaged have been restored, protected or re-set.
As a result of this work, the number of deficient survey monuments has been greatly reduced. Staff continue to add to the list of survey monuments needing attention, but the current fund balance is projected to be sufficient to do this work over the next 5 to 7 years. For this reason, staff recommends suspending the $10 Survey Monument Preservation Fee. This will result in a reduction of approximately $29,000 in revenue per year to the Monument Preservation Fund.
Community Services
The Community Services department is requesting fee changes for both the Environmental Health and Integrated Waste Management divisions, as described further below.
Environmental Health
In 2014, the Environmental Health Division (EHD) engaged Wohlford Consulting to conduct an objective analysis of the full cost of EHD services for which user fees are charged. To ensure accuracy and establish a clear nexus between the cost of services and the fees charged, the study required a detailed analysis of time required for staff to provide each component of service delivery. When the study was used to propose fee changes in 2014, many fee increases were limited to a maximum increase of 10% so customers could more easily absorb the higher cost. As a result many fees remain at an amount that is less than the full cost of service.
On February 24, 2015 the Board of Supervisors approved multi-year fee increase plan for EDH (Attachment B) to achieve improved cost recovery over time for fees that are less than the full cost of service. The proposed fee increases to be implemented in fiscal year 2017-18 are consistent with the third-year of the adopted fee increase plan.
Some Public Water System fees will still remain below cost and future incremental increases will be required to reach full cost recovery. With continued annual incremental increases, Public Water System program fees will reach full cost recovery in approximately 8 to 10 years, taking into account annual cost increases. All other Environmental Health fees will be fully cost recoverable based on the cost accounting in the 2014 study. However, costs have increased since 2014, and therefore a new cost study will be required to analyze appropriate fees for all Environmental Health programs in the fall of 2017.
In addition, the California Health and Safety Code and the California Code of Regulations mandate certain surcharges for regulated facilities that use and store hazardous materials or hazardous wastes. Two state surcharge fees are increasing effective July 1, 2017. One fee is the general oversight fee which will increase from $35.00 to $49.00 per year. The other fee applies to all regulated facilities that have underground petroleum storage tanks, which will increase from $15.00 to $20.00 per tank. As part of the County’s Hazardous Materials program, these surcharges are collected and passed through to the state. The funds are used by the California Environmental Protection Agency to fund the necessary and reasonable costs of all state agencies responsible for program implementation.
Overall, the proposed fee increases will result in a net revenue increase of approximately $17,500 per year. The Environmental Health Division notified customers of the fee changes with email distribution lists to regular customers, such as annual rate payers and contractors. Notice was also provided at the counter and on the website.
Integrated Waste Management
The Integrated Waste Management Division operates as a self-supporting enterprise fund and depends on revenue from disposal and recycling services and permit fees to fund most of its programs, including operation of the Yolo County Central Landfill (landfill) and the Esparto Convenience Center (transfer station). Due to increased operating costs, the fees for the following materials are insufficient to cover the costs of services provided:
- Municipal solid waste (MSW)
- Bulky waste materials such as styrofoam and tree stumps
- Organic Materials (yard trimmings and food waste)
- Liquid wastes
- Inert materials (gravel, asphalt, concrete, etc.)
- Materials requiring special handling (cannery waste, mud, grits, rags, sewage, sludge, etc.).
However, for other reasons described in the following paragraphs, the division proposes to decrease fees for the following materials:
- Scrap metal
- Metal Appliances (Washers, Dryers, Refrigerators, ovens, etc.)
The division proposes to increase fees for commercial loads of mixed inerts (gravel, asphalt, concrete and porcelain with no wire mesh or rebar). For large commercial loads the fee will be increased from $12 to $15 per ton. This is estimated as a tip fee revenue increase of $12,000.
The tip fees for commercial loads of MSW, bulky waste, liquid waste and wastes requiring special handling are proposed to increase 3.8%, 6.7%, 2.9% and 5.7%, respectively, and generate increased revenues of $40,000, $5,900, $18,000 and $25,000, respectively. This increase represents approximately 68% of the proposed revenue increase and 1.2% of the anticipated tip fee revenue for the landfill.
Last year the division raised fees for scrap metals due to low recycling payment rates. At that time the Board approved a tip fee increase for recycling large metal appliances (washers, dryers, refrigerators, etc.). Due to higher payment rates, the division is now proposing to decrease the tip fee for scrap metal to $0, and reduce the tip fee for metal appliances by $1 each, resulting a small tip reduction which will be offset by the recycling payments.
In addition, new legislation (AB 1826), which mandates businesses to recycle their organic waste on and after April 1, 2016, required the division to expand the yard waste diversion program to include food waste. This law requires that beginning January 1, 2016 all local jurisdictions implement an organic waste recycling program to divert organic waste generated by businesses, including multifamily residential dwellings that consist of five or more units. Organic waste means food waste, green waste, landscape and pruning waste, nonhazardous wood waste, and food-soiled paper waste that is mixed in with food waste.
Implementing this expanded organics program requires an increase in the tip fees for yard waste, food waste. The fees for these materials are increasing by $2 per ton, from $52 to $54. The division is also proposing to increase several of the non-weighed self-haul vehicle fees at both the Landfill and Esparto transfer Station to help offset the increased costs for these smaller loads. Full size and Mini-pickup truck loads are proposed to increase by $1 to $2 per load, for an average increase of 3.7% per vehicle load and an estimated total revenue increase of $37,650.
The division is also proposing several new fees for loads of mixed inerts or sod, cleanup fees for handling any illegal materials mixed in with loads, and for loads of electronic waste from businesses. Loads of mixed inerts or sod will vary from $5.00 to $28.00 depending upon the size of the load (garbage can to full size pickup), and loads of business electronic waste will vary from $20.00 per vehicle for a small load (one garbage can) to $350.00 per ton for a large commercial load. The new electronic waste fees are estimated to generate approximately $19,000 in additional revenue to help offset the estimated $50,000 deficit in FY 2016-17 for recycling these materials. The sod and inert fees will not generate additional revenues but will allow smaller loads of these materials to use the self-haul lane and increase efficiency at the scalehouse. The cleanup fees will recover costs for removing the illegal materials from load and transport them to a location for proper handling these fees range from $22.00 to $43.00 and are estimated to generate about $20,000 to offset these additional handling costs.
Overall, the proposed landfill fees will increase revenue by approximately $255,500 per year. This is an average fee change of 3.3%, and represents 1.2% of the landfill fee revenue received during FY 2015-16. Adoption of the proposed fees will allow the division to:
- Increase the tip fees for commercial loads of MSW, organic materials, liquid waste, bulky waste, and C&D debris to fully recover costs for these services; and
- Decrease fees scrap metal and appliances to encourage proper recycling or disposal of these materials.
General Services
When the Yolo County Board of Supervisors approved the Parks Sustainability Study in June of 2016, one of the first tasks to be handled by the Parks Division was completion of a user fee study. Though some fees were adjusted in 2008, a majority of fees associated with the Parks Division have not been analyzed or revised since the late 1990s or early 2000s. In January 2017, the Parks Division solicited Requests for Qualifications for completion of a division-wide user fee study. Fiscal Choice Consulting, LLC., out of Illinois, was selected to complete the study and began work in March.
Through on-site interviews and analysis with the General Services Administrative Team and Parks Division staff, Fiscal Choice Consulting determined that the Parks Division was undercharging for services by approximately $239,000. These proposed fee increases are projected to generate an additional $102,546 in annual revenue.
For several of the proposed fee revisions, full-cost recovery is not possible without causing an undue burden on park visitors. For example, according to the results of the User Fee Study, a fully cost-recoverable fee for Day Use at a Yolo County Park would be over $20.00. A fee of this magnitude would far exceed comparable fees in other counties, and would likely discourage park use. The proposed increase of $2.00, (from $6.00 to $8.00) will provide the division with additional revenue of at least $1,270 to as much as $46,000 once the division is able to collect fees from all visitors through the use of Board-approved automated pay stations. Further, the department is exploring other cost-reducing measures such as an adopt-a-park program and increased use of volunteers.
Other areas where full cost recovery is not possible includes fees for Dogs, Boat Launch Day Use, Camping, and Special Event Permits. For Individual Site Camping, direct staff cost along with administrative overhead and other costs means that one night of overnight camping costs the County approximately $93.00. By increasing the fee from $25.00 to $30.00 a night, the division expects to see an additional $10,000 collected in camping fees annually. Additional incremental increases in these fees every one to two years could move the division closer to full cost-recovery. Fees for Boat Launch Day Use could achieve full cost recovery as early as 2019, as the current fee is within $4.00 of doing so already.
The most significant fee increase is for shower use at the Cache Creek Campground, which is proposed to increase 40% from $2.00 per five minutes to $5.00 per five minutes. While this fee was the most recent addition to the Parks Master Fee schedule, the direct cost of providing this service is higher than initially believed. Despite this increase the division does not anticipate a loss of utilization, as the shower facility at the campground is a heavily utilized amenity.
Several of the proposed fee changes are based on estimates of usage levels, primarily related to fees associated with the issuance of annual passes. Because the division currently has no information regarding how many times an annual pass is utilized within a calendar year, the Fee Study made an assumption of ten annual visits as the break-even point for the purchaser. For the Annual Day-Use Pass, the division is proposing an increase of $5.00 from $75.00 to $80.00, which is equivalent to 10 times the proposed non-pass Day Use Fee ($8.00). The same logic follows for the Annual Boat Launch Permit fee. These fees include varying rates for residents, non-residents seniors, and senior non-residents. All categories of annual passes are proposed to receive incremental annual increases of $5.00 for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 fiscal years.
The division anticipates that a second revision for the 2018-19 fiscal year will provide an additional $96,719, for a total annual revenue increase of up to $199,000 provided the division is able to capture fees from all Parks visitors. The division is also exploring partnership opportunities with the Yolo County Sheriff to ensure compliance with fee payment as well as technology improvements, which may expedite revenue increases. For example, this year the division will install an electronic payment station at the Elkhorn boat ramp, which will offer more payment options for our visitors. Finally, all fees were compared to benchmark parks departments to assure reasonableness regionally.
Health & Human Services Agency
The Health and Human Services Agency, Behavioral Health division is proposing to increase billing rates based on the actual costs of clinical service delivery. These rates reflect the per-unit reimbursement rate that the County will receive from Medi-Cal and other payor sources. To determine these rates, the division has conducted multiple Mental Health Mock Cost Reports in order to project revenues for the 2016-17 and 2017-18 fiscal years. This cost accounting process involves capturing total estimated expenditures for each fiscal year, and associated units of service by mode and service function as defined by the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS).
Utilizing the cost report process as prescribed by DHCS, HHSA has developed updated Medi-Cal billing rates by service type for fiscal years 2016-17 and 2017-18. Typically, these rates should be updated annually to ensure that the County is billing in accordance with the rates established by the Mental Health Cost Report. However, these rates have not been updated for several years, and failure to do so could result in the department being underpaid for specialty mental health services. |