Are You Paying One of the 1,535 Different Fees the City of Houston Collects?

I attended the City of Houston (COH) Budget and Fiscal Affairs Committee meeting this morning. On the agenda was an item dealing with permits/fees and their related costs of service.

The COH has plans to ink a contract with a cost allocation consultant to review the 1,535 different fees that the COH collects. The purpose of the study is to determine whether the fees collected cover the City’s costs to deliver the services. At present, the costs of service are determined by each department individually (scary) and the fees are prohibited by state statue to exceed the cost of service. (I will be very interested to see their analysis on the dumpster fee.) It has been over ten years since an outside agency has reviewed the fees for service.

The drainage fee will not be included in the study because “of the revenue target that needs to be raised” by that fee. (Hmm)

The study will take nine months to complete at which time there will be a proposal to increase/decrease the fees. The study will cost the COH between $200-$250K, which (and I quote) they “plan to pay for based on revenue generated upon the completion of the study.” 

 

Following release of the study results, the COH says the findings will be the basis for additional efficiency studies on how to better deliver services.

Interestingly, while the study will compare Houston fees to other major cities, it will not compare the number of FTEs and salaries to determine if the number of FTEs performing the services and their salaries are comparable. 

We will watch and report back. #tb