Commission backs removing fixed fee language from city code, leaving amounts to adopted fee schedule

Jed, a city staff member, asked the commission to approve an amendment that would remove specific fee amounts from City Code section 11-6-120 and direct readers to the council-adopted fee schedule. He said the intent is to avoid duplicating fee amounts in code, which can lead to discrepancies when fees change administratively.

Jed said staff is coordinating with city engineering on any future fee changes and reiterated that the proposal "is just striking that from the code. We're not changing the actual fee currently. We just want to remove the wording within Title 11." He said the adopted fee schedule is presented to City Council and any modifications would come back to the council for approval.

Commissioners asked whether other fees appear elsewhere in city code and whether it is standard practice to remove fixed amounts from code. Jed explained the adopted fee schedule is publicly available and posted when discussed at council meetings, and that moving fee amounts to the schedule reduces the chance of the code and the schedule becoming inconsistent.

The chair opened the public hearing for the item; no members of the public spoke. A motion to forward a recommendation of approval to City Council for the proposed amendment to City Code section 11-6-120 paragraph two was made, seconded, and approved by unanimous voice vote. The commission’s recommendation will be transmitted to the City Council for formal action; any change to the fee amounts themselves would be proposed later by staff to council.