New fees for electric vehicle charging in city parking lots

In plain English

Capitola would change how it charges drivers to plug in at the City Upper and Lower parking lots. Instead of a flat $2.00 per hour, the fee would become the normal hourly parking rate for the space plus $0.45 per kilowatt-hour of electricity used. That matches the rate already charged at the Jade Street Community Center chargers. A yes vote adopts a resolution amending the Fiscal Year 2026-27 city fee schedule, effective immediately on adoption.

Anyone who charges an electric vehicle in Capitola's upper or lower city parking lots would pay based on how much electricity they actually use, on top of the parking space rate, rather than a flat hourly price.

Key facts

New rate: City Parking Lots EV charging would be the parking lot rate plus $0.45 per kilowatt-hour; the Community Center rate stays at $0.45 per kilowatt-hour.
Current rate is $2.00 per hour, set in November 2024 and carried into the FY 2026-27 fee schedule adopted by Resolution 4500.
On September 15, 2026, four new Blink chargers were installed in the City Upper Parking Lot; they can serve up to eight vehicles at once and track usage in kilowatt-hours.
At the May 14, 2026 Council meeting, staff reported the existing EV charging rates did not fully cover the cost of the electricity used.
The change would take effect upon adoption of the resolution on October 8, 2026; state law (Government Code Section 66018) requires an open public meeting before raising a fee.

Reasons to support

The old $2.00-per-hour price was based on older equipment that could not bill by electricity used, and staff say it did not recover the cost of the power consumed.
The new Blink chargers report usage in kilowatt-hours, so the city can bill each driver for the energy they actually take rather than averaging across all users.
Setting the lot rate at $0.45 per kilowatt-hour makes city lot charging consistent with the chargers already operating at the Jade Street Community Center.

Reasons to oppose or change it

Drivers who charge slowly or use little power may pay more overall, since the energy charge is added on top of the hourly parking space rate rather than replacing it.
The resolution does not cap the total cost of a charging session, so a long or high-capacity charge in the upper lot could cost considerably more than the current flat $2.00 per hour.
Higher charging prices at the new upper lot stations could discourage use of the eight new charging spots the city just installed.

Official wording

Amend FY 2026-27 City Fee Schedule to Adopt City Parking Lot Electric Vehicle Charging Fees Recommended Action: Adopt a resolution amending the fee schedule for Fiscal Year (FY) 2026-27.

Official agenda

Summary written by claude-opus-5 from the agenda and the Staff report (agenda packet, pages 119-132). It can contain mistakes. The official documents govern.