As you are all aware, the Board of Supervisors back in early December held a full-scale hearing on proposed fee increases wished-for by 16 different departments.
Historically, the County typically holds these fee adjustment hearings twice a year. By any other standard these so-called fees are just thinly disguised taxes. The fee increases were set out in a 23-page, single-spaced spreadsheet. In prepared remarks, CEO Darcie Antle told the Board, “The proposed fee changes reflect the ongoing efforts of all departments and offices to meet full cost recovery, per Board direction. The proposed changes are projected to bring an additional $3.2 million ($1.7 million in General Fund Revenue and $1.5 million in Non-General Fund) in revenues to the County.”
Antle stated that the proposed increases are needed to close a deficit which, of course, at this time is an unknown but very fluid number that changes from meeting to meeting because the County has not completed the mandated audits of its books for the past two years. At different times the deficit has been estimated to range anywhere from $7 million to $15 million.
For County bureaucrats to even remotely consider raising fees at this time when people, all across Mendocino County, are being hammered economically on a daily basis, is unconscionable and demonstrates a disconnected reality breathtaking in its magnitude.
Looking at just one area of the proposed fee increases, Scott Ward, a retired long-time planning and building professional, submitted these comments on the proposed fee increases:
“The proposed increases in Planning and Building fees will negatively impact the cost and feasibility of development. including the affordability of much needed housing in Mendocino County. The proposed fee increases are not based on the actual time spent on processing, issuing, and conducting inspections of the permitted work.
“Government Code Section 65583(a) requires ‘An analysis of potential and actual governmental constraints upon the maintenance, improvement, or development of housing for all income levels… including… fees and other exactions required of developers and local processing and permit procedures…” Based on the Planning and Building memo supporting this agenda item, the required analysis and nexus study have not been done as is required by state law.
“High planning and building permit fees can impact property owners ability to make improvements or repairs, especially for lower-income households. Government Code Section 66020 requires that planning and building permit processing fees do not exceed the reasonable cost of providing the service or impact. unless approved by the voters: agencies collecting fees must provide project applicants with a statement of amounts and purposes of all fees at the time of fee imposition or project approval.
“During my nearly 30-year professional career working for Planning and Building Departments, I have gained an in-depth knowledge and understanding of how much staff time it takes to intake, process, review and issue planning and building permits. As a former building official, plans examiner and building inspector. I know how long it takes to conduct inspections on work authorized by building permits. For the last 9 years I have owned and operated a small consulting business whose primary focus is planning and building permit acquisition. Most of my clients are in Mendocino County. I have submitted well over 1200 planning and building permits to the Mendocino County Planning and Building Department over the last nine years.
“Based on my professional experience and my current experience as a consultant, it is my professional opinion that the current fees and the proposed Planning and Building Department fee increases exceed the reasonable cost of providing service.”
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I also just received these comments from Nikki Auschnitt and Steve Kreig of the Petit Teton Farm in Boonville. They too hit the nail on the head regarding these unwarranted, and in some cases, probably illegal fee increases.
Here's their thoughts:
“Hi, Jim,
We started to write this after reading your column, ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want,’ in the AVA about a month ago, but the article motivated us to look at all our state and county fees for doing business. We are shocked! We’ve never collated them before and they're mind boggling. These are the county and state fees required to open our doors to do business every year. They amount to over 20% of our annual revenue! They do not include income taxes, federal and state payroll taxes, farmers market fees, liability insurance. and worker's comp. We may have missed some. No wonder that after 20 years of doing business we’ve yet to break even.
(We would be happy to continue this conversation with you. by phone or email, and to share our numbers.)
Yesterday we received the revised county bill for maintaining our commercial kitchen which we had been warned, back in December, was coming. The bill is double what we paid the previous year; from $357 to $708. This week, we also received the county bill of $50 to maintain our farmers’ market scales which they at least test. The angering thing about these fees is that the state also bills us for the same ‘services.’ We pay the state $500 to maintain our commercial kitchen and $95 to just use our scales which they never test. In other words, we pay twice for the same governmental oversight.
A lot of happy talk comes from our local politicians about encouraging small businesses to thrive, but their actions speak louder. By this double billing, and the county aggressively ‘adjusting up’ fees to small businesses to make up budgetary shortfalls, they are making it ever harder to survive. In our opinion the county could be aggressively looking at those who pay no fees or taxes for renting their properties to weekend tourists, and those whose properties need reassessing or who never received revised tax bills. But we get it, it’s easier to saddle existing small businesses with increased fees than work to find the scofflaws.
A little about us. We run two very small businesses, a farming one which includes canning and raising animals, and a micro cannabis one. We understand the need for government oversight and we are not libertarians. Our businesses involve farming, always risky business. But there must be balance. Based on the bill we just received there's no telling how much all the other fees will rise. Covid and the county cannabis regulations took care of a lot of small businesses. Now, with the budget disasters becoming obvious, the board is flailing to raise money by sucking the remaining businesses dry. We refuse to go down without a fight.
We always appreciate your common sense articles in the AVA which is why we chose to write to you. We feel there are many folks out there like us, but there is little way to organize as a group except through publications such as yours and the AVA. Let us know if you have any questions about our businesses and the fees we pay, or would like to discuss this issue further.
Thanks for all that you do!”
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You know people have got it figured out all by themselves that this County is saddling its citizens with backbreaking fees and charges to make up for years of fiscal mismanagement by elected officials and bureaucrats.
As I’m always saying, problems just don't happen, people make them happen. The people who created this fiscal mess are not County residents, it’s the people who are supposed to be representing their constituents.
Something is radically wrong with that governing principle. And only the people can right that wrong.
I was at Planning and Building yesterday for a client to pull an electrical permit to change out a 200 amp service. The permit fee increased from $260 to $560. The fee increased over 100%! There is no way on God’s Green Earth that this is a reasonable fee. Mendocino County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 for this usery. Because of my protestations about the unjustified and illegal fee increase, the CEO’s office now has Planning and Building staff using time clocks to track their time spent on assisting customers. This
Is being done AFTER the fee increase was approved by the Board of Supervisors. Typical Mendocino County governance. Talk about shutting the barn door after the horse got out. I submitted a Public Records Request for a copy of the training materials used by county management to train staff on how to use the time clocks. The results of my request showed that there are no training materials. Some staff members I have spoke to have stopped using the time clocks altogether or make up the time spent on customer service. The county elected officials and its management staff are the reason Mendocino County is on a downhill slide. We deserve better.
It all makes a strong case for Grover Norquist’s bathtub solution.
We are floored by the increases in fees. Our small business is a touring entertainment company that requires multiple permits for every location, in every County that we serve. We currently serve over 25 counties in both California and Oregon.
Typically we require an event permit, a Temporary food facility permit, a fire permit (which makes no sense), and sometimes a separate tent permit and electrical permit. The fees for these permits vary from County to City even within Mendocino County, but there is usually an anticipated fee threshold.
In 2022, we experience a tripling of our electrical permit. This permit is required because we use a generator for our events and it requires that Building and Planning come out and inspect our grounding rod. The inspection is about 20 minutes. The fees went from $90 to over $300 for no stated reason and effected both our Mendoicno Village and Fort Bragg locations but curiously had no impact on Boonville, Ukiah or Point Arena. When I questioned this increase, there was evasion.
Fort Bragg is the only location where we must pay the Sherif’s department a daily fee to sign off on our ABC license application. This fee just went from $13/day to $50/day. Bare in mind, the ABC charges a daily fee and the licence is specifically for nonprofit organizations to fundraise.
Why does the Fort Bragg Sherif charge this fee at all, much less more than triple it from one year to the next. We play to multiple locations in Mendocino County and it is only the FB sherif that charges this fee.
The current Temporary Food Facility permit has increased also more that 3 times. Not only were we informed of this increase by letter in December, we were told to wait for an invoice before renewing our annual permit. When we finally recieved the invoice in March, it had an automatic late fee attached to it. We called to dispute the fee and were immediately yelled at in the most unprofessional encounter I have ever had with the County and that is saying alot.
I am deeply concerned about corruption and anti-business policies in our county., which is our primary residence. Fees for the same permits in surrounding counties are not as expensive or volatile. Expense aside, it is an impossible task as a small business owner to anticipate this level of increase across the board. This is a recipe for a collaspe of the local economy.