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6 <br /> 2. Presentation of Fee Study for Emergency Services, Planning & Inspections, and <br /> Environment, Agriculture, Parks and Recreation (DEAPR) <br /> The Board received a presentation reviewing the fees and cost recovery for the programs in <br /> Emergency Services, Planning & Inspections, and Environment, Agriculture, Parks and <br /> Recreation (DEAPR) by MGT Consulting. <br /> BACKGROUND: In recent years, the strain of inflation has had a significant impact on the <br /> County's annual operating budget. For many fee-based activities particularly, the County had two <br /> (2) options through the budget. First, the budget could either absorb those cost increases and <br /> increase the tax impact of providing these services. Alternatively, the County could pass on fee <br /> increases to the users of these programs through fee increases. As a result, the County Manager <br /> authorized the Budget Office to conduct a fee study of major fee generating departments. The <br /> Budget Office conducted a request for proposals (RFP) and selected MGT Consulting to provide <br /> a detailed model of the cost drivers for three (3) County departments. <br /> The consultant worked closely with staff in Planning & Inspections, DEAPR, and Emergency <br /> Services. MGT collected data around the costs of operating programs, the fee level and volume <br /> of collections, the organization of the departments and the indirect costs of supporting each <br /> department. The costs were then aligned to different fees to determine the total cost of each fee <br /> activity and each fee division overall. In the attached MGT report, the total cost to the County of <br /> operating fee based programs in these three departments is $21.7 million dollars. The County <br /> generates fees in these programs of$7.6 million or 35% of the cost of the programs. This leaves <br /> $14.1 million in County subsidy to operate these programs. This unique methodology of analyzing <br /> the total cost of the fee is different than the typical County or departmental review of fee <br /> operations. Typically, the budget document reviews cost recovery at the division or cost center <br /> level. Which totals all costs and revenues in the division. This review does not include any costs <br /> outside of the division, including indirect support costs or supervisory costs of department <br /> administration. Due to this difference of calculation, the percentages in this report will be different <br /> and lower than are normally detailed in the annual budget document. The MGT report also puts <br /> the County fee schedule in context of selected peer comparisons. <br /> While the MGT report provides a financial picture of the fee-based programs, there are qualitative <br /> factors that play a role in setting fee schedules. The County should assess aligning fee programs <br /> with the priorities of the strategic plan and consider the impact of fee costs on demand and <br /> accessibility of fee based programs on the users of those programs. The attached PowerPoint <br /> presentation provides a framework of the various qualitative features that go into setting fees and <br /> cost recovery targets. Staff requests feedback from the Board on the importance of different <br /> factors in setting rates. Following this presentation and Board discussion, the County Manager <br /> will use the priorities expressed to recommend fee changes for the FY 2026-27 Budget. <br /> Kirk Vaughn, Budget Director, introduced the item and made the following presentation: <br />