The City of Morro Bay is looking for someone to study whether it is covering its costs adequately with the fees it charges for special services.
The City put out a “Request for Proposals” or RFP for a “Development Impact Fee Nexus Study and propose Development Impact Fees” for the City, reads the RFP notice.
“The City assesses various development impact fees on new development and redevelopment to help the City pay for the infrastructure required by the new development activity.”
The study will update the costs these fees are meant to cover and recommend adjusting the fees accordingly, with an eye at recovering as mush of the costs as possible. The City can’t make profits from these fees and must occasionally show a nexus between the costs and the dollar amounts being charged.
Though the City looks at the fee schedule every year, and always seems to tick them up a little each time, it occasionally must make large adjustments to the fees, because inflation and costs don’t rise uniformly, and State Law requires there be a nexus with costs vs. fees.
The City will take bids until Sept. 21 and the study is expected to take 4-5 months to complete. Any changes to the fee schedule must be approved by the City Council.
One fee that sure to be discussed is what the Harbor Department charges transient vessels for dockage at the T-piers, after recent visits from some huge vessels including the 180-foot super motor yacht, Nomad, which is owned by a Greek shipping tycoon.
The Harbor Advisory Board voted to form an ad hoc committee to find out what other ports charge for such ships with an eye at increasing the fees and in turn the revenues to the Harbor Fund.
No estimated costs were given with the City’s RFP notice.
