Administrative Code Section 8.44 sets forth the fees that the Department of Administrative Services charges for document reproduction and notary services available to the public at the City’s Permit Center and provides for automatic adjustments to the fees based on changes to the Consumer Price Index.

The proposed ordinance amends Section 8.44 to increase the fees charged for certain services (specifically for printing no 'no parking' signs and large format black and white printing) to reflect the actual costs of production and increases other fees to reflect changes to the Consumer Price Index.

The impact of the amendment is to ensure that the fees for printing and notary services at the Permit Center are increased to align with the actual costs of production and to account for changes to the Consumer Price Index, therefore reflecting the real expenses involved in providing these services.

The rationale for the proposed change is that the Department of Administrative Services now has a better understanding of the actual costs and volume of its provision of document printing services to the public since it began collecting fees for printing services in 2022. The fees had originally been established based on volume estimates.

This information has not been explicitly provided in the quoted sections. Usually, the approval process involves presenting the ordinance to the Board of Supervisors, who may pass it with a majority vote, and the ordinance is then sent to the Mayor for signing into law.

The Permit Center serves as a centralized place for obtaining and paying fees for various services. Through the increase in fees, there is an element of accountability in ensuring that the Center operates in a way that its service costs are recovered effectively without leaving the facility.