The City Council will meet Thursday, Feb. 17 to mull a 427-page report detailing the cost of each municipal service to prepare for a new fee structure.
“In our continued focus on prudently managing our local resources and revenues, the members of the City Council engaged an independent firm to closely examine the costs of all aspects of our local government operations to ensure we’re fully informed as we make choices about the future direction of the city’s budget in these challenging economic times,” Mayor Peter Tucker said in a prepared statement.
“This study is a great starting point for assuring Hermosa Beach’s financial future and maintaining the high quality of public services for which our city is known,” he said.
The study, which the council will discuss at a pre-budget study session, divides municipal services into two categories: public services with broad benefits such as police and fire protection, and more narrowly directed services such as dance classes and building permits, which go to individual residents or groups in exchange for fee payments.
The study states that fees often don’t match the cost of providing the services provided.
The report found the city is spending $3.6 million more on the narrowly directed services than it collects in fees. But the study also points out that some of the services provide benefits to the larger community.
The report states that services such as booking someone into the city jail cannot be covered by fees, and the cost of some services could not be covered without setting fees too high to be affordable.
“City Council members will be discussing this study in detail with the community to determine what, if any, fees should be changed,” Tucker said.
The breakdowns in the 427-page report reveal information including the cost of building inspections and plan checks, which is just over $1 million a year, the cost of booking and processing people who are arrested, which is $238,000 a year, and the cost of police response to false alarms, which is almost $33,000 a year.
As the economy continues sour, the City Council has taken steps to cut costs by offering early retirement packages to 11 city employees, freezing 25 vacant city positions, and turning over the production of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, summer concerts at the pier and Christmas tree lighting ceremony over to private businesses and the Hermosa Beach Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Bureau.
The council earlier this month approved filling two out of five previously frozen employee positions in the Police Department, using payroll savings from the 11 early retirements. Three police positions remain frozen.
The council meeting will be 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 17 at City Hall, 1315 Valley Drive. ER
