The Town Council voted unanimously at its Nov. 17 regular session to adopt a new comprehensive user fee schedule applied to town services.

Finance Director David Pock explained in his staff report that user fees are used by local government for products, services and rentals provided to individuals or groups for their benefit.

“These fees rarely cover the entire cost incurred by the local government to obtain, maintain and provide the products, services and assets for rental,” Pock said.

Unrecovered costs are subsidized from other funding sources, most notably the General Fund.

Earlier this year the town obtained the services of Willdan Financial Services and Pat Walker Consulting to conduct the first User Fee Study for the town since incorporation.

The study calculated full cost, including indirect costs, for each fee included in the 2020 Comprehensive User Fee Schedule. This calculation was compared to existing fees to determine the amount of subsidy.

“Based on that information, and multiple discussions with staff, (a) draft report was compiled, including proposed revisions to the fee schedule,” Pock said.

The recommended fees provided a mix of both increases and reductions to existing fees.

Pock said user fees account for approximately $1.3 million of the town’s annual revenue, or about 7 percent.

The town’s Comprehensive Fee Schedule is posted to the town website, fh.az.gov, with financial documents. The new schedule will be effective July 1, 2021.