About City Fees

Some public services are funded through taxes, while others are paid for only by those who use the service or directly benefit. These are considered highly individualized public services. For example, if someone applies for a permit, they will pay a permit fee; or if someone applies for a business license, they will pay a business license fee. The burden of covering the cost of providing those services is not typically passed to the general taxpayer.

The full list of City fees can be found in one document called the Comprehensive Fee Schedule, linked on this page.

Every three years, the City conducts a study to make sure fee amounts cover the cost of providing certain services. In years when a fee study is not done, user and regulatory fees are adjusted by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and impact fees are adjusted by the California Construction Cost Index (CCCI).

The City conducted a User Fee Study in 2024 and City Council adopted changes to the fee schedule on July 2, 2024. In adopting the fees, the City Council sought to balance fiscal sustainability with service affordability and chose to set some fees at lower rates than the fee study recommended rather than recovering the full cost of providing some services. In addition, the City Council also decided to phase-in fees that were proposed to increase more than 50% and $10 over 9 months.

Effective July 1, 2026, both User and Impact Fees will be adjusted:

User Fees will increase by a CPI of 3.68%

Impact Fees will decrease by a CCCI of 0.51%

List of Fees

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FAQ Box

For assessed fees, what is the “reasonable cost” of a service?

The basic concept of a User Fee Study is to determine the “reasonable cost” of each service provided by the City for which it charges a user fee. The full cost of providing a service may not necessarily become the City’s fee, but it serves as the objective basis for the maximum amount that may be collected.
How are Development Impact Fees used?

Development Impact Fees pay for a variety of products and services within the City of San Luis Obispo. They keep infrastructure and facilities maintained and ensure our emergency services have funding.
How does the City determine cost recovery for fees?

The reality of the local government fee environment is that significant increases to achieve 100% cost recovery is often not feasible, desirable, or appropriate depending on policy direction — particularly in a single year. The recommended fees identified herein are either at or less than full cost recovery, and are based on the City’s cost recovery policy, outlined in the Financial Plan (starting on p. 538).
How does the City use Impact Fees?

Development Impact Fee revenue is collected and used to cover the cost of capital facilities (e.g., parking structures) and infrastructure (e.g., bridges) required to serve new development in the City. Impact fee revenue cannot be used to cover the operation and maintenance costs of these or any other facilities or infrastructure. Impact fees can only be used to pay for new or expanded capital facilities needed to accommodate growth.
What is a User & Impact Fee Study? 
The purpose of the study is to develop an updated schedule of fees that accounts for the true costs of providing user-requested services, and updated fees charged to developers to offset the impact of their projects on existing facilities.

The study has two components:
1. User Fee Study: First, it is a review of the City’s existing fees for services excluding Water and Sewer rates (subject to Proposition 218), and Parking and Transit rate-based fees. The study involves multiple Departments and identifies the “reasonable cost” of providing services, as City staff currently provides them, at existing, known, or reasonably anticipated service and staff levels; it then compares the result to the current fee amount to determine whether it’s recovering the full cost of the service provided. The fee study also provides an opportunity to add new fee recommendations or remove outdated fees or services.
2. Impact Fee Nexus Study: Second, it is a review of the City’s adopted development impact fees (AB 1600) for transportation, parks and recreation, police, fire, water and wastewater.
Where can I view the current Comprehensive Fee Schedule?

View a PDF file of the current Comprehensive Fee Schedule, updated for FY 2025-26.
Who pays Development Impact Fees?
Any property owner that wishes to build the following will pay Development Impact Fees:
- Any new residential or non-residential development
- Additions and expansions to existing non-residential development
- Additions and expansions to residential developments that paid discounted impact fees
- Additions, expansions and remodels that result in a change of land use
Why is a fee study needed now?
A fee study is typically performed by local governments every 3-5 years to adjust user fees and charges to changing costs and circumstances. The last fee study the City completed was more than five (5) years ago (in 2017).

In California, user fees are required to conform to the statutory requirements of the California Constitution, Proposition 218, and the California Code of Regulations. The law also requires that the City Council adopt fees by either ordinance or resolution. Any fees set higher than the estimated total cost of providing the related services must be approved by a popular vote of two-thirds of voters because the charge would then be considered a tax and not a fee.

In the interim, user fees were adjusted by annual changes in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and impact fees were adjusted annually by the California Construction Cost Index (CCCI) for impact fees, as the City has been impacted by cost increases and inflationary pressures on labor, materials and supplies. Additionally, in rare cases, additional changes have been made to ensure that cost recoveries were more in line with Council-approved guidelines.

Scope of the User Fee Study

The scope of the User Fee Study encompasses a review and calculation of the user fees listed in the existing Comprehensive Fee Schedule and charged by the following City of San Luis Obispo Departments, as well as any general government fees charged by various departments (copies, recordings, etc).
- Community Development
- Public Works
- Parks & Recreation
- Police
- Fire
- Finance
- City Clerk
- Utilities
Scope of the Impact Fee Study

The scope of this study encompasses a review and calculation of the development impact fees listed in the Comprehensive Fee Schedule, including:
- Transportation Impact Fees
- Parkland Impact Fees
- Police Impact Fees
- Fire Impact Fees
- Water & Wastewater Impact Fees

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About City Fees