California law gives cities the ability to impose fees for governmental services when an individual’s use of the City service is voluntary, and the fee charged is reasonable to the level of service and the cost of providing the service.

Fees in California are required to conform to the statutory requirements of the California Constitution, Proposition 218, and the California Code of Regulations. The Code also requires that the City Council adopt fees by either ordinance or resolution and that any fees in excess of the estimated total cost of rendering the related services must be approved by a popular vote of two‐thirds of those electors voting because the charge would be considered a tax and not a fee.