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Residents will soon see bills for most city services jump by 5% to more than 300% this summer, after the Menlo Park City Council voted unanimously, albeit cautiously, on April 28 to approve a new fee schedule. The move comes as city officials brace for budget constraints.
Every city department, including community development, police, public works, library services and the municipal water system, will see varying levels of increases that city staff said are necessary to match the rising cost of providing services and blunt expected deficits. But the lengthy list of fee increases had some council members concerned that they did not have enough time to fully consider the ramifications of the wide-ranging proposal.
While the City Council agreed with most of the consulting group’s recommendations, after public outcry and concerns from local news publishers, the City Council agreed to block a proposal that would require newspapers to pay $233 every two years for each distribution box. City staff said the fee would have covered costs associated with biennial inspections city staff conducts of the publisher-owned boxes. It would have been the only nearby city to charge such fees.
The Embarcadero Media Foundation, which publishes The Almanac and Palo Alto Weekly, has more than 40 newspaper boxes in Menlo Park. The new fees would have cost the nonprofit news organization between $10,000 and $12,000 every two years, according to Publisher Adam Dawes, who spoke against the plan. He also relayed Palo Alto Daily Post Editor Dave Price’s opposition to the fee.
Currently, user fees generate about $10 million annually and cover roughly 41% of the city’s cost to provide those services. Under the changes, fee revenue is projected to increase by an estimated $4.3 million, boosting Menlo Park’s cost recovery to about 59%.
In its report, city officials said that aligning fees more closely with actual costs promotes fairness by ensuring that those who directly benefit from services bear the expense, while preserving general fund dollars for broader priorities like public safety and infrastructure.
The report said the city’s goal is to achieve near 100% fee recovery for departments like public works, planning and building, while still subsidizing some costs for community services like child enrichment.
While the City Council unanimously approved all but one of the recommended fee increases, Councilmember Drew Combs said he is concerned about potential unforeseen impacts.
“I’m supportive of the effort, but it was a lot to review and I am afraid of what I don’t know that I don’t know,” Combs said at the meeting. He added that while he tried to review the extensive proposal, he is concerned that there could be a proposed fee that does not match the City Council’s goals.
The staff report and supplemental materials totaled over 400 pages and was released 10 days before the council meeting.
Councilmember Jeff Schmidt said that if some of the fees turn into a “fiasco,” he would like them to be brought back to the City Council for further review.
The packed agenda for the April 28 meeting didn’t help matters: the council also weighed several impactful agenda items at a meeting that ended at midnight. Presentations on the fee schedule, which was the last substantive item, did not start until after 11 p.m.
According to the staff report, community development fees, including building and planning services, could see the largest increase, with projected revenue rising by 72%. Public works fees are expected to increase by about 22%, while police-related fees would rise by 12%. Library and community services fees would see more modest increases of around 4% in keeping with the city’s policy to keep recreation programs accessible.
Some of the most notable changes include new fees that the city has not previously charged.
Among them is a credit card surcharge that would pass processing costs directly to users, replacing what staff estimates is currently a roughly $600,000 annual subsidy from the city.
Combs asked staff to ensure that there are always clear options to pay that avoid the surcharge and that paying via cash or check does not affect people’s ability to reserve spots in Menlo Park’s coveted gymnastics program.
The police department could start charging $212 per hour for special events that require police personnel to be on standby.
Under state law, the city may not increase or impose new fees that exceed the actual cost of the service without voter approval.
In addition to fee increases, the city also approved higher deposits for certain development applications, such as architectural control permits and variances, which staff said are intended to better reflect the true cost of staff time and reduce the need for additional billing later in the process.
Programs offered through library and community services, which include recreation classes for adults, children and seniors, would continue to be subsidized to some degree to support broader community access.
A 10% increase was approved for all after-school sports programs and adult sports leagues. There would also be a 10% increase to the cost of renting many spaces from the city. Aquatic fees for the city’s public swimming pools were not included in this review, but are scheduled to go before the council at a later date. Some childcare services will increase between 5% and 10%.
While the fines for parking and nuisance citations will stay the same, the penalties for high-risk false alarm calls are set to more than double. Standard-risk false alarms will also increase depending on how many false calls occur from one user per year.
The report was created as part of an estimated $65,000 contract with Government Consulting Partners, Inc. to study the city’s costs for its services approved in August 2025.
The city plans to implement the new charges by July 1, the first day of the new fiscal year.
