Los Gatos council approves new fees, fines for upcoming fiscal year

New fees

The Los Gatos Town Council approved new fees and fines that should bring in about $168,000 in the upcoming fiscal year.

Administrative services director Kristina Alfaro presented a list of new fees and fines during the April 7 town council meeting. The first change she mentioned was an overall recommended increase on fees by 2.2%, based on the average consumer price index for the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose metropolitan area.

Four new administrative fees were introduced for entertainment zone signage, preparing “no parking” signs, facilities maintenance and expedited processing for events. The council also passed new development fees for outside legal council review, minor residential applications, annual utility maintenance and license agreements. New fees related to police services and parks and public works were introduced. Other fees saw increases; for example, charging an electric vehicle was bumped from $1 to $1.70 an hour.

The council unanimously approved the changes to the fee schedule, but they held the Adopt a Bench fee until staff returned with more information on how much the town was charging previously and if there are any lower-cost alternatives. The new fees would have been almost $10,000 for the initial cost of the bench and almost $6,000 for renewal of staff costs.

The council also raised the fines for offenses related to fireworks to deter people from unlawful use. Fines are $1,000 for the first offense, $1,250 for the second offense and $1,500 for the third offense.

Bandstand project

The Los Gatos Town Council on April 7 authorized funding to improve the bandstand area at Oak Meadow Park.

The capital improvement project is designed to meet the increased need for programmable and reservable space by improving the landscape and hardscape around the bandstand and making other infrastructural upgrades.

The council authorized the town manager to move forward with a construction contract for about $163,500 and another contract for materials testing services for almost $10,000.

Los Gatos Community Foundation President Sharon Childs told the council that the foundation has been working on this project for over 11 years. She said the foundation has to rent a dance floor when bands perform on the bandstand to prevent dancers from kicking up dirt.

“What we want to do is to be able to have it for events that we can rent it out,” Childs said of the bandstand.

Councilmember Rob Rennie recalled that when he was working with the foundation 13 years ago, they had raised and donated some money for the project. Childs said that they had raised around $69,000; the entire project would have cost $75,000 at the time.

Homeless services study

The Town of Los Gatos is working with other area cities in a West Valley Homeless Services Implementation Task Force. The task force would involve representatives from Saratoga, Campbell, Cupertino, Monte Sereno and Saratoga, along with county representatives, institutional stakeholders and select service providers to develop a formal implementation plan and establish measurable goals, define governance structure and financing strategy and monitor its progress.

The Los Gatos Town Council heard the results of a needs analysis and feasibility study led by the City of Campbell and the Good City Company on April 7. According to the presentation, Los Gatos counted 81 unhoused residents during a 2023 point-in-time count. That number fell to 27 in 2025, a decrease of 66%. The drop was attributed to a change in the time of day that the count was conducted.

The needs analysis saw that unhoused individuals in the West Valley are more likely to be youth or families with children. They also are more likely to sleep in their car or couch surf than to use shelter beds. There is also a higher domestic violence survivor rate and a lower rate of people with mental, physical and substance use issues. However, Hispanic or Latino, Black and indigenous people were overrepresented in the study in comparison to their overall West Valley populations.

The study concluded with some recommendations, such as sustaining and expanding programs that work, engaging with with people who have experienced homelessness, identifying funding and supporting neighborhood safety and cleanliness.

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This story was originally published April 14, 2026 at 6:59 AM.