TO: Board of Supervisors
FROM: Tracy Cleveland, Agricultural Commissioner
REPORT BY: Jaspreet Faller, Staff Services Analyst II - 253-4973
SUBJECT: Weights & Measures Fees Ordinance and Resolution
RECOMMENDATION
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SET MATTER 9:30 AM - 10 Minutes
Agricultural Commissioner/Sealer of Weights and Measures requests the following actions related to Weights & Measures fees:
1. Hold a public meeting and adopt a resolution amending the Weights & Measures annual device administrative fees maintained in Part III, Section 20 of the Napa County Policy Manual; and
2. First Reading and Intention to Adopt an Ordinance amending Napa County Code Section 5.52.040 regarding annual registration fees for businesses using commercial weighing or measuring devices and/or point-of-sales systems.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
On April 28, 2021, the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) approved the proposed amendments to the Device Administration - Inspection and Fees regulation in CCR Title 4, Section 4075. The Department of Weights & Measures is responsible for collecting the administrative fee on behalf of the California Department of Food and Agriculture.
Section 12240 of the California Business Professions Code, relating to weights and measures, provides that the county board of supervisors, by ordinance, may charge an annual device registration fee, not to exceed the county’s total cost of actually inspecting or testing the devices as required by law. For this reason, the fee increase must be adopted by ordinance rather than resolution.
PROCEDURAL REQUIREMENTS
1. Staff Reports.
2. Public Comments.
3. Motion, second, discussion and vote on intention to adopt the ordinance.
4. Motion, second, discussion and vote to adopt the resolution.
FISCAL & STRATEGIC PLAN IMPACT
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Is there a Fiscal Impact? |
Yes |
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Is it currently budgeted? |
No |
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Where is it budgeted? |
The revenue will be included in the Agricultural Commissioner’s budget. |
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Is it Mandatory or Discretionary? |
Mandatory |
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Discretionary Justification: |
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Is the general fund affected? |
Yes |
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Future fiscal impact: |
Revenue is expected to increase by approximately $6,000 annually once the fees are implemented. |
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Consequences if not approved: |
If this item is not approved, fees will not be amended or increased and new fees will not be captured. The current fees will continue to be charged. |
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County Strategic Plan pillar addressed: |
Effective and Open Government |
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Additional Information |
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ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION: The proposed action is not a project as defined by 14 California Code of Regulations 15378 (State CEQA Guidelines). CEQA does not apply to the establishment, modification, structuring, restructuring, or approval of fees that the agency finds are for the purpose of recovering or partially recovering operating expenses. [14 CCR 15273 and 15378(b)(2).] It can also be seen with certainty that there is no possibility the proposed resolutions or ordinance may have a significant effect on the environment and therefore CEQA is not applicable [14 CCR 15061(b)(3)].
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
The Legislature has charged the Department of Food and Agriculture (Department) with the responsibility of supervising weights and measures activities within California pursuant to California Business and Professions Code (BPC), Division 5, Section 12100.
Revenue collected from the Department’s current administrative fee schedule in Table A of CCR Section 4075 (fee schedule) no longer provides for necessary and reasonable costs to supervise, train, oversee, and investigate the weights and measures activities in the 58 counties throughout the state. The current fee schedule was adopted in 2012 and has not been modified since. As a result, the Department recently amended the fee schedule to allow the Department to recover its necessary and reasonable costs associated with the required activities in BPC Section 12241.
Currently, a county may retain up to fifteen percent (15%) of all other administrative fees to recover their actual costs to assess, collect, and remit the administrative fees to the Department. The Department amended the amount a county can retain to twelve percent (12%). The increase in administrative fees will result in a proportional increase in the amount a county collects, and twelve percent (12%) of this larger amount will result in equal or greater funding to a county to cover its administrative costs. The proposed text also clarifies that a county may only retain an amount that recovers its actual administrative costs. Rather than stating the specific amounts called for in BPC Section 12241, staff propose amending Section 5.52.040 to track the statute so that frequent ordinance amendments are no longer necessary and this approach appears consistent with many other jurisdictions.
While updating the administrative fee, staff is amending the County Fee Policy language to refer to the code section which allows the County to charge the administrative fees approved by legislature. This will ease the burden of having to change the fee policy every time there is an adjustment to the code section. Several surrounding counties have adopted similar language in their fee policies related to the device registration administrative fee.
Public Notice
Notice of the public meeting was published in the Napa Valley Register on July 14, 2021 and pursuant to Business and Professions Code section 12243, notice was mailed to those persons requesting such notices.
Attachments
The attached exhibits detail the fees in two formats tracked (comparison) and clean (final). On the tracked version, adoption of amended language are noted by underline. Rescinded fees are noted by strike-through. Fees that are neither underline nor struck-through are not fees adopted by the proposed resolution, but are existing fees included for informational purposes only.
SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS
Proposed Ordinance-Clean Version
Proposed Ordinance- Redlined Version
Resolution
Part 20 - Ag Commissioner/Sealer - Clean Version
Part 20 - Ag Commissioner/Sealer - Redlined Version
CEO Recommendation: Approve