by Andrew Alonzo | aalonzo@claremont-courier.com

With a 4-0 vote on June 24, Claremont City Council approved new fees for community development and recreation and human services, and a resolution to order liens on properties with delinquent sanitation accounts.

Council member Sal Medina was absent.

Fee increases

The council approved updated fees to its 2025-2026 comprehensive user fee schedule, meaning in addition to the recent 3% increase in sanitation and sewer bills, customers will also see 3% increases to various community development, recreation, and human services fees. The increase is tied to the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim consumer price index, according to a staff report.

“Staff believes it is important to adjust fees on a regular basis to keep pace with inflation, and to avoid a situation where fees remain unchanged for several years, with large, growing General Fund subsidies for services provided,” read the staff report.

The new fees went into effect Tuesday.

Per the new fee schedule, the city will implement new deposit charges for applications related to the city’s cultural resources and preservation ordinance. Applications include a “certificate of appropriateness,” a permit granted for the demolition, alteration, or relocation of a cultural resource; and a “certificate of economic hardship, a city issued permit determining a cultural resource cannot be remodeled or rehabilitated in a manner which would allow a reasonable use of or reasonable return on investment from the property to the owner,” wrote City Attorney Alisha Patterson in an email. The deposit fees for the applications are $2,000 and $1,000, respectively.

Patterson provided clarification on the economic hardship application.

“I think the context that might be missing here is this is in the historic preservation ordinance, and so if the cost of preserving the historic feature does not make economic sense, that’s what this process is for,” Patterson said. “It’s an economic hardship process, but it’s not because somebody doesn’t have the finances to pay for their project, it’s the way of proving to the city that it doesn’t make economic sense to preserve a historic feature when … the value of preserving the history doesn’t outweigh the costs that it would take to preserve the feature.”

Also as part of the new fee schedule, the city will impose a $236 processing fee for each residential or commercial solar energy system permit which includes a system inspection.

Updates to recreation and human service fees include adding a $35 late fee for applicants who apply to rent Taylor Hall, city parks or fields less than 30 days prior to the event; charging hourly rental fees for Youth Activity Center amenities, including $20 for its art room and music studio, $25 for the cafe and kitchen, $35 for multipurpose room, $40 for the main room, and $54 per hour for an attendant during non-operating hours, and a $500 refundable security deposit.

Additional recreation and human service fee updates include $15 for additional Camp Claremont shirts, and senior program changes such as $25 for some workshops, classes, and other special events, and updated fees for senior trips.

The new user fee schedule is at portal.laserfiche.com.

Delinquent accounts

After a public hearing, the City Council voted 4-0 to reserve the right to place liens on properties of customers with outstanding balances on their sanitation account. Liens can only be placed via a resolution approved by the council.

The city produced a list of 222 current outstanding accounts with a total balance due of $154,507. The list is viewable on the council agenda at portal.laserfiche.com. To view it, visit claremontca.gov, search “city council agendas,” click the first option, then the hyperlinked “city council agendas” text on the subsequent page. Navigate to the June 24, 2025, meeting, then select item 11a.

The city hopes to update the list prior to filing a finalized version with the LA County Tax Assessor’s Office August 1. Property owners who believe they may have been mistakenly added to the list can call Claremont City Hall at (909) 399-5460 for more information.