Clear Lake Council adopts updated fee schedule, aiming to reduce general-fund subsidy

The Clear Lake City Council voted unanimously to adopt a revised fee schedule for fiscal 2022–23 after staff said the adjustments would move the city closer to recovering the cost of plan reviews and permit processing.

Director Young presented the changes, telling the council: “We are proposing 1,500, which is an increase from $1,210,” and compared the fee to nearby jurisdictions, noting Lake County’s initial study fee is $3,050. Staff said the increases are intended primarily to cover staff time and occasional consultant work and also to offset credit-card processing charges and software costs.

Council members pressed staff on the history of subsidies, with Councilman Claffey asking why the city had fallen behind in periodic updates. Staff responded that fees had seen only marginal increases over time and had not kept pace with salary and overhead changes. Director Young said some fees will replace prior valuation-based charges with fixed, up-front amounts to provide predictability for applicants.

Members stressed balancing cost recovery against local economic objectives. One example cited during the discussion: staff proposed assessing development fees as 3.5% of engineer estimates, which could translate to several thousand dollars on a typical single-family home, and an additional inspection fee was described as covering plan checks and reviews. Staff agreed to return with specific net-impact figures for typical cases.

During public comment, residents raised concerns that higher use-permit fees could discourage small businesses and redevelopment. Bruno Sabatier asked whether projects requiring more staff time would be billed hourly; staff said major items such as environmental impact reports would be billed at actual cost, typically with a $5,000 deposit, and that some categories will include additional linear-foot charges or other actual-cost billing.

The council’s adoption of the resolution was moved by Councilman Kramer and seconded by Vice Mayor Purdock; the motion carried unanimously. Staff said they will bring back requested clarifications on how particular increases would affect typical residential and development projects.