ITEM:	ACTION ITEMS
17.	DISCUSS AND RECOMMEND MODIFICATIONS TO REGULATION 6 - FEES
Meeting Date:		May 17, 2004	Budgeted: N/A
Staff Contact:		Stephanie Pintar	Program/Line Item No.: N/A
			Cost Estimate: N/A
General Counsel Approval: N/A
Committee Recommendation: The Administrative Committee reviewed this item on May 11, 2004 and recommended ____________________.
CEQA Compliance: N/A

SUMMARY: Processing fees for functions undertaken by the Water Demand Division have not been comprehensively reviewed or updated since the adoption of Ordinance No. 71 in January 1994. At this time, staff is proposing adding new processing fees for the following services:

1. Water conservation inspections upon change of title

2. Pre-inspections

3. Re-inspections of previously failing properties

4. Repeat inspections for any reason (e.g. failed to show inspector water fixtures)

5. No-show inspections

6. Cancellation of inspections – same day

7. Pre-application consulting, including client meetings

8. Deed restriction preparation

9. Verification and documentation of Water Use Credits

10. Extension of documented Water Use Credit

Most of these services require approximately 1½ to two hours of cumulative District staff time. Applicants are currently not charged for any of these services. Tasks related to these services include communications with applicants, applicants’ agents, contractors, architects, real estate agents, preparing documents, writing letters, obtaining and reviewing documents related to property ownership and use, setting up inspections, quantifying credit and amending permits. Proposed fees for added services are shown in the table at Exhibit 17-A.

Staff is not proposing charging fees for standard counter and telephone service or for required initial inspections. The proposal is to charge for extraordinary work efforts such as situations where an inspection has been scheduled, the inspector prepares the paperwork and visits the site only to find that there is no one there to meet the inspector. Another example would be an inspection where the inspector was not shown all of the fixtures. In these cases, staff has expended more than an hour’s time on average.

In addition to adding fees for the services discussed above, staff recommends increasing existing permit processing fees to account for the amount time involved with processing permit and water credit applications. The proposed fees are recommendations based on staff’s experience with customers who are trying to find ways to remodel or build a new house and with commercial customers who have to find innovative retrofits to change use or otherwise intensify use. Proposed amendments to the existing processing fees are included in Exhibit 17-A. Staff will provide a comparison of the proposed fees to fees charged by other agencies at the Administrative Committee meeting.

RECOMMENDATION: The Administrative Committee should review the proposed new and adjusted fees and provide direction to staff. Staff recommends a draft fee amendment ordinance be prepared and brought back to the committee for further review. It would be prudent to have the people using extraordinary services pay for the services.

BACKGROUND: The Water Demand Division is generally the first point of contact for people visiting or calling the District. At this time, fees are not charged to prospective applicants for excessive staff time to assist with preparation of an application. Complex projects often require considerable staff time, and often involve meeting with the applicant and with other representatives, doing research on the property or on the type of business or technology proposed. As water becomes less available, more projects are considered “complex.” Staff time spent dealing with these types of projects takes staff away from helping the person at the front counter or on the phone that has a relatively simple question.

The on-going search for water credits by property owners has resulted in numerous questions directed to staff regarding how the District verifies or quantifies water credits and how those credits can be used. In addition, staff spends a surprising amount of time answering telephone calls from property owners and their agents, real estate professionals, contractors, designers and architects and other members of the public and other agencies. A recent example is Monday, April 5^th: Staff documented 88 incoming telephone calls at the front desk (calls to staff through their direct numbers were not included in the count). Staff presently processes 10-15 Water Use Credit requests per week, as compared to a typical single request per month in the past.

In an effort to facilitate efficient use of staff time, the Water Demand Division regularly refers callers to the District’s website. The website has forms, frequently requested information, brochures and ordinances, and includes numerous hyperlinks to additional resources on water conservation. The Water Demand Division’s homepage can be accessed at http://www.mpwmd.dst.ca.us/wdd/NewWDDsiteinfo/progress/WDDHomepage.html. Despite this effort, the volume of contacts and the complexity of the projects continue to increase.

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