The City of Folsom will move forward with a new schedule of increased fees for police-related services following a unanimous vote by the Folsom City Council Tuesday night. The fee adjustments, proposed by the Folsom Police Department and detailed in a city staff report, are designed to bring the city’s current charges in line with the true cost of providing a variety of services ranging from alarm permit enforcement to crime and incident report processing.
According to the staff report, the city collected approximately $144,082 in revenue from these services during the 2024–25 fiscal year. However, the fully burdened cost of providing those same services totaled $234,604 — resulting in a $99,522 subsidy from the city’s general fund. If all of the newly adopted adjustments are implemented as projected, the city anticipates generating approximately $199,021 in annual cost recovery from service-related fees, increasing revenues by $54,939. This would reduce the general fund subsidy to an estimated $44,583 annually — cutting the current financial burden to the city by more than half.
City officials emphasized that these changes are not designed to fund new services, but rather to more accurately recover costs associated with existing ones. “It is important to note that the proposed user fee changes will not serve as a source of funding for expanded services,” the staff report states. “However, updating these fees ensures that we are recovering more of the cost to provide existing services from those who use the services, rather than relying on the general fund to subsidize this work.”
The revised schedule also restructures the city’s user fee categories. It includes the addition of several new categories; the removal of obsolete ones; and the modification of others to more accurately reflect the actual services currently offered by the Folsom Police Department.
Alarm, records and administrative fees updated
Among the adjustments, the fee for a new alarm permit will remain at $47. Although this amount is unchanged, it still places Folsom above some neighboring cities such as Sacramento ($30) and Roseville ($35 for two years), but below Citrus Heights ($58). The alarm permit renewal fee will rise from $18 to $20. Folsom will also introduce a $20 late renewal fee for the first time and implement a $20 penalty for failure to register an alarm system — both aimed at improving compliance and reducing false alarm responses.
The false alarm penalty structure itself remains unchanged, with a $50 penalty starting at the second false alarm and increasing up to $250 by the fifth. However, a new $10 fee will now be charged to process a waiver request when a resident seeks to dismiss a false alarm penalty.
Several other service fees are being updated. Traffic collision reports provided in photographic or PDF format will increase from $7 to $10; non-PDF copies will rise from $7 to $15. The same increases apply to crime or incident reports: $10 for PDF versions; $15 for non-PDF copies. Fees for crime logs and daily logs will increase from $7 to $10; the cost for a call-for-service history by address will also rise to $10. Letters of Clearance, which verify an individual has no criminal record within Folsom, will increase from $25 to $30; and a new $20 fee per incident will now be charged for 911 audio recordings, which had previously been provided without a specific fee.
The administrative citation fee for ordinance violations or false alarms is set at $30. Subpoena processing will now be billed at $45 per hour, replacing the former flat rate of $24. The city will also charge a $10 fee for restraining order service; and $5 per image for color photograph copies requested by the public.
Effort aims to reduce city subsidy, maintain service levels
City officials noted that labor and contract service costs — two of the largest drivers of operational expenses — continue to rise annually. As such, the user fee adjustments are meant to keep pace with those increases and reduce reliance on the general fund. Adjusting the fees is projected to improve overall cost recovery without altering the level of service provided to the community.
The revised fee structure will go into effect later this year following formal administrative processing. The full breakdown of proposed fees, comparative data with surrounding jurisdictions, and supporting documents are available through the City Council’s May 14 agenda materials at www.folsom.ca.us.
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