Staff Report

CONSIDERATION OF AND ACTION ON

Ordinance 2026-15 Amending Appendix A - City of El Campo Fee Schedule - Article A3.000 EMS Department, amending by updating Sec. A3.001 Ambulance Fees; Article A4.000 Construction Related Fees, amending by updating Sec. A4.001 Building Permits, Plan Review and Contractor Registration, by updating Sec. A4.002 Electrical permits, by updating Sec. A4.006 Gas permits; Article A5.000 Health Related Fees, amending by updating Sec. A5.002 Retail Food Establishment Permit Fee, by updating Sec. A5.003 Mobile food vendor permit fee; Article A6.000 Development Related Fees, amending by updating Sec. A6.001 Development related fees; Article A7.000 Fire Prevention Related Fees, amending by updating Sec. A7.003 Construction permit;  Article A8.000 Business Related Fees, amending by updating Sec. A8.004 Massage business permit, by updating Sec. A8.005 Coin-operated machines and pool tables; A9.000 Parks and Community Facilities, amending by updating Sec. 9.002 Civic Center; Article A10.000 Utility Rates and Charges, amending by updating Sec. A10.001 Water Rates, by updating Sec. A10.002 Sewer Rates, by updating Sec. A10.003 Utility Services Fees, by updating Sec. A10.009 Drainage pipe installation fee, by updating Sec. A10.010 Transportation User Fee, by updating Sec. A10.011 Solid Waste Rates; Enacting Other Provisions Incident and Relating to the Subject and Purpose of This Ordinance; and Providing for an Effective Date

The proposed ordinance updates Appendix A of the City of El Campo Code of Ordinances to reflect changes in operating costs, adopted/proposed FY2027 budget assumptions, contractual costs, current City practices, and statutory requirements. Major changes include:

• Ambulance Services: Increases BLS, ALS, ALS2, and specialty care transport rates to reflect rising service costs and adds a new $1,200 blood administration fee for a service reimbursable by insurance providers.
• Building Permits and Contractor Registration: Clarifies that manufactured home placements and relocated structures are included in residential permitting; clarifies treatment of additions and remodels; establishes a separate in-ground pool permit fee; changes contractor registrations from calendar-year expiration to 365 days from issuance; and eliminates the early renewal fee.
• Electrical and Gas Permits: Establishes valuation-based commercial electrical and gas permit fees, retains existing residential fee structures through re-indexing, and adds expired-permit reissue fees consistent with other permit types.
• Food Establishment and Mobile Food Vendor Permits: Changes retail food establishment permits to expire one year from issuance rather than December 31 and eliminates City mobile food vendor permit fees pursuant to House Bill 2844.
• Development Fees: Adds a $50 fee for consideration of zoning eligibility for unlisted uses and increases the voluntary annexation application fee from $50 to $500 to account for increased public-notice costs.
• Fire/Construction Permits: Removes the private-system flow-test fee and re-indexes related construction permit categories to reflect current City practices.
• Massage Businesses and Coin-Operated Machines: Converts massage-related permits to 365-day permit periods and clarifies the $15 coin-operated machine fee as an annual per-machine fee.
• Civic Center: Adjusts rental rates and deposits for the entire facility, Main Hall, Expansion Room, Duson Room, Myatt Room, kitchen, and patio to reflect rising operating costs. For example, the entire-facility rental increases from $2,300 to $2,375 and the Main Hall from $1,400 to $1,450.
• Water and Sewer Rates: Implements the water and sewer base-rate adjustments included in the FY2027 Proposed Budget for residential, nonresidential, school, senior, and disabled customer classifications. Residential first-2,000-gallon water and sewer charges increase from $16.75 to $18.25 and $18.00 to $19.50, respectively.
• Utility Service Fees: Eliminates the ¾-inch water service tap, standardizes new service taps at 1 inch or larger, adjusts certain larger water tap charges for material costs, and increases the street-cut/bore restoration charge from $40 to $50 per foot.
• Drainage Pipe Installation: Increases residential drainage pipe installation from $25 to $40 per foot, maintains a 16-foot minimum, and adds a $200 pedestrian-rated drain grate installation fee, with larger or traffic-rated grates charged based on actual costs.
• Transportation User Fee: Increases the monthly transportation user fees from $3.25 to $3.75 and from $8.75 to $9.25, depending on classification, to support street repairs as included in the FY2027 Budget.
• Solid Waste: Updates residential, commercial, dumpster, roll-off, extra-lift, portable toilet, and related solid-waste charges to reflect actual contract costs; establishes reduced standard residential rates of $25.59 per month for qualifying senior and disabled customers; and eliminates certain eight-yard dumpster haul/disposal charges.
• Brush/Bulky Collection: Revises the existing brush/bulky collection structure by establishing a residential charge of $20 per cubic yard for brush exceeding six cubic yards and a commercial bulk-trash pickup charge of $195 for up to six cubic yards.
• Miscellaneous Solid Waste Charges: Adjusts portable toilet, cart replacement, caster, and lock charges to reflect current contractual costs.

Financial impact: To be determined.