New fees approved for community development, fire and police departments in Newport Beach

Adjustments to existing fees and the introduction of new ones are coming to Newport Beach residents following city action Tuesday, but many are small increases to help the city recoup the cost of providing services.

On Tuesday, the Newport Beach City Council received a presentation and proposal on a routine fee study of the community development, fire and police departments.

The city reviews every department it has on a rotating basis of three to five years to ensure that the costs residents face mirror the actual cost to provide those services. With community development, for example, that involves such tasks as reviewing plans and permitting, while the fire department charges for services like fire inspections.

Deputy finance director Michael Gomez said the city’s fees in these departments were last studied in 2020, though he acknowledged the NBFD’s fire prevention program saw some revisions of its fees last year.

The fees are expected to generate round $620,000 in net revenue during the upcoming fiscal year, which begins July 1.

City officials approved general fee increases of 3% to 5% across all three departments.

In the community development department, two new fees were proposed and approved: a litigation defense fee and a general plan maintenance fee.

The litigation defense fee would be a “pass-through” fee that would allow the city to recoup costs for any projects that require legal support, while the general plan maintenance fee would be dedicated to maintaining and updating the city’s general plan and support documents.

The former fee will be based on the full hourly and burdened rate of legal personnel as well as the city and developmental overhead rates, while the latter fee will be applied to 5% of all new construction, additions and alterations.

In relation to the fire department, two new fees were proposed for fire alarm review and fire sprinkler review — services the city already offers but doesn’t currently account for with multilevel buildings. These fees “target and capture that additional level of effort and time for reviewing and inspecting multistory buildings,” said Gomez, and were proposed at a fee of $455 for buildings greater than two stories. The two-story rule applies to buildings with floors above and below ground.

Fees are also expected to increase for emergency medical services. Emergency transport fees will be bumped up 2%, and the paramedic subscription fee will rise by $2 a month beginning in January 2024, raising the current cost of $60 a year to $84.

New police department fees largely deal with the department’s animal control arm. A reduced adoption fee for animals over 8 years of age was approved Tuesday to encourage the adoption of older animals to $70 respectively.

Another fee, which deals with court-ordered animal inspections, will be instated to recoup costs of doing those inspections at a fee of $155, along with a $200 fee for voluntary turn-in of unaltered animals for the costs associated with spaying and neutering.

A fourth new fee was approved for licensing animals that have been declared “dangerous” by a court because of the increased cost of gathering and record-keeping on those animals. The fee adds $248 to the base animal license fee.