Council considers raising some city service fees

BARSTOW • Confronted with the results of a cost-of-services study, the Barstow City Council may consider raising the fees it charges for providing most of its services.

Revenue and Cost Specialists, a Fullerton-based firm, spent the last six months interviewing city employees and reviewing the 2010-2011 budget to determine a dollar figure the city spends on services traditionally funded by fees.

Eric Johnson, Revenue and Cost Specialists’ vice president, told the Council Monday that about $2.4 million in taxes is currently funding services that could be supported entirely by fees. His company arrived at that figure by reviewing employees’ salaries and benefits, determining how much time each employee spends to provide a particular service and what the overhead costs are, Johnson said.

It would be up to the Council to determine how the city should act with the information it received, said City Manager Richard Rowe. The Council would decide if fees should be increased or if a service should be eliminated.

But some members of the City Council pointed out that the study didn’t address if staff time was spent efficiently on any given service. They also noted that the study doesn’t rely on documentation to justify the amount of time spent on providing a particular service, just interviews with city staff.

“I’m a documentation kind of guy, said Councilman Willie Hailey Sr., adding that while he thought the study was good, he wasn’t sure if the staff hours listed for each service was accurate. “I figured that he had taken all of the time sheets and came up with an idea and talked to employees. It kind of bothered me that there were no time sheets.”

Hailey said the city should increase its fees for some of its services, especially if it impacts residents, but it should also be careful about it. Hailey will also be looking into a better way of documenting city staff hours.

For most development-related services — such as conditional use permits and zone changes — the consultant recommends the city try to recover 100 percent of the cost to provide them through fees. Revenue and Cost Specialists also suggest the city to recover 100 percent of the cost for services relating to public safety, such as police responding to a false alarm, as a way to encourage good behavior.

But when it came to recreation-based services, such as sports and preschool programs, Johnson said much of those fees will still need to be subsidized by additional tax dollars. The city should also be aware of what other entities are providing similar services and what residents would be willing to pay, he said.

Councilman Tim Saenz pointed out that the report also didn’t look at if the city should reduce staff salaries. He asked Rowe to have staff review the fee study and report back to Council with their take on it.

“What they gave us was just a snapshot,” he said. “It wasn’t all inclusive. It looks at, 'Hey, what are we subsidizing and how can we make up the difference?'”

Barstow Mayor Joe Gomez, who voted against paying for the fee study, said the Council will likely look at each service, particularly park and rec services, independently and then make a decision. In particular, he said he’d like to look at either reducing the expenses at the Robert A. Sessions Memorial Sportspark or increasing the revenue somehow.

In March, the Council approved a $41,000 contract with Revenue and Cost Specialists to conduct the study. City staff and elected officials wanted to get a better idea of what its services cost the city and how much it should charge for them.

A full copy of the 384-page report can be found online at www.barstowca.org. Rowe could not be reached for follow-up questions Tuesday.

Contact the writer:
(760) 256-4123 or jcejnar@desertdispatch.com