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At a special four-hour meeting on June 16, the San Juan Bautista City Council considered a new fee schedule for city services and the 2026-27 fiscal year operational budget, ultimately approving both.
The council also postponed consideration of a new ordinance to designate parts of the city for use by food trucks.
The new fee schedule, prepared by Matrix Consulting Group, was first presented at the council’s April 21 meeting. It was revised and presented again at the May 19 meeting, with the vote to approve it postponed after council members and several members of the public voiced concerns that the fees had not yet been fully discussed or considered.
Increases in the fee schedule were intended to address shortfalls between the “full burden” cost of staff time to process permits and the city’s current charges. By law, the fees cannot exceed the actual cost of those services.
The final draft of the fees was not significantly different from the draft version delivered to the council on May 19, which was covered in a previous BenitoLink article. There were a few changes, however.
- Parking citations: A listing of 17 specific citations was added, with most penalties set at $70, rising to $300 for Handicapped Zone violations
- Parking lot rental: New fees were established for renting city lots at $1,125 per day or $112 per hour
- Dog license fees: A new section for dog licensing was added, with a $30 fee for unspayed/unneutered dogs, $20 for spayed/neutered dogs, and no fee for guide dogs
- Mobile food facilities registration: New initial and renewal permit fees of $103 were added for year-round registration outside of special events
- Sidewalk vending registration: New initial and renewal permit fees of $103 were added
Councilmember Jackie Morris-Lopez defended the update, saying the time had come to address the 20-year gap between fee revisions.
“We have been dipping into our general funds to cover the services that we provide,” she said. “It just doesn’t work, and that’s not how we operate.”
Councilmembers Morris-Lopez, E. J. Sabathia and Jose Aranda, along with Mayor Leslie Jordan, voted to approve the increases. Councilmember Scott Freels was absent.
City Manager Ashley Collick introduced the proposed draft budget, which had originally projected a combined general fund and community development funding gap of approximately $775,000 but had been partially resolved by drawing from existing funds:
- $220,000 from library impact fees
- $300,000 from Public Agency Risk Sharing Authority funds
- $255,000 as a partial repayment of an existing $1.4 million interfund loan owed by the water and sewer enterprise funds to the general fund
Collick said the budget was “gone over line by line,” and any items not deemed essential to maintaining core services, meeting legal obligations, or supporting critical infrastructure were reduced, deferred or eliminated.
This included not granting cost-of-living adjustments to city staff for the second consecutive year, reducing or eliminating outside consulting services like 4Leaf, moving code enforcement into the community development department, and moving engineering functions into public works.
Resident Michael Ponce expressed concern about long-term sustainability, claiming the city has “overhired” and pointing to a jump in wages and benefits from $1.1 million to $2.4 million. He also criticized the purchase of a $1.2 million fire engine, arguing the city might not even have a fire department in two years.
Although by law the council is not allowed to respond directly to public comments, Aranda, in his comments prior to the vote, said he had heard similar complaints from residents about the increase in staff, and defended the hiring.
“One of the things we struggled with was service,” he said. “We used to have 4Leaf here, which would mess things up and take a long time to approve things. It’s been a mess, and the city has been getting things in order. We now have people on site, and we’ve been making some really great adjustments with processes and service.”
By a 4-0 vote, the council approved the budget; Freels was absent.
Food trucks
First discussed at an April 2, 2024, San Juan Bautista Planning Commission meeting, an ordinance to regulate the short- and long-term presence of food trucks within the city limits was brought back to the council for consideration.
Among other things, it would allow food vendors to sell from three designated locations: on the Alameda, by the soccer field, near the junction of Hwy 156 and Muckelemi Street, across from the Chevron gas station, and on 4th Street next to Abbe Park.
The ordinance would allow vendors to operate for up to four hours in designated areas or on private property within the mixed use or commercial districts. A streamlined administrative process requires applicants to submit site plans, proof of insurance and health permits before obtaining a vending permit, which is valid for one year.
Several concerns were raised by the council, particularly regarding the Muckelemi Street location. Jordan reminded the council that the San Benito Health Foundation is planning a new clinic and housing at that location, which could render it problematic as a food truck site.
Morris-Lopez said she was concerned about the traffic entering and exiting San Juan at that location and pointed out that there is no sidewalk for customers to stand safely.
Aranda said he was concerned about the impact that regularly scheduled food trucks would have on the downtown area’s restaurants, saying they should be kept away from that area entirely.
Sabathia countered, saying that “most legislation that limits business competition is illegal,” and questioned the restrictions on the number of hours a truck could operate on private property.
Rather than proceeding to a second reading at the next council meeting, it was decided to bring the item back for further discussion and direction at the Aug. 18 meeting. The goal would be to finalize the ordinance for a second reading at the September meeting.
Related stories
Related information
San Juan Bautista Fee Schedule
Special San Juan Bautista City Council Meeting (6/16/26) on YouTube
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