Q&A
Application fees for civil service exams and their determination
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Council Member De La Rosa inquires about the determination and purpose of application fees for civil service exams. DCAS officials explain:
- Fee determination is based on the minimum starting salary for the position
- There's a chart ranging from $40,000 to over $100,000 salary, with fees from $40 to $101
- The fee structure was last updated around 2010
- Paid exams have better attendance percentages than free exams
Additional details:
- Fees go into the city's general fund, not directly to DCAS
- DCAS is open to reconsidering application fees for certain exams or titles with high vacancy rates
- The bridge exam model ($40 flat rate for up to 10 exams) is seen as a way to provide more value to applicants
Carmen N. De La Rosa
0:45:43
help them fill their vacancies.
0:45:44
Great.
0:45:45
What formula, what is the formula for the application fee?
0:45:50
You know, one of the things you testified to, I have the bill that kind of waives the fee.
0:45:54
And I understand, like, the need to have you pay, even though I would argue that, you know, I pay for the gym, and I don't go.
0:46:01
So it's not always an incentive.
0:46:03
Like, you pay and you go.
0:46:04
You know?
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But, I understand that we want people to be responsible, and if they do put their resources towards something, they're gonna show up because they're bought in.
0:46:14
Right?
0:46:15
But what is the formula for the fee?
0:46:17
Where does the money generated by the application fee go go towards?
0:46:23
One of the things that we know is that, again, for an individual that may not be employed, this could this could be a barrier.
0:46:29
So I just wanna learn a little bit more about how the fees are determined.
0:46:32
Like, I think I saw there were some tests that are, like, $68.
0:46:36
There's other tests that are $40.
0:46:37
There's different fees.
0:46:38
So how do you determine what's the fee per application?
Katrina Porter
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So thank you for that.
0:46:43
I'll turn that over to Rob Alexander.
Robert Alexander
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Thank you for that question.
0:46:47
Thank you, counsel.
0:46:49
The fee is part of our rules.
0:46:50
The fee is determined by the minimum lowest salary, starting salary for that position.
0:46:55
So there's a chart that I believe begins at 40,000 up to over a 100,000 with 40 being the least and 101 being the highest salary.
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I think it was last updated sometime in 2010.
Megan Chambers
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Okay.
Carmen N. De La Rosa
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And you all are I mean, by your testimony, are finding that when people pay, they generally show up?
Robert Alexander
0:47:12
When when they pay a small fee, they they come in much better percentages when they do if
Daniel Pollock
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they don't pay at all.
Carmen N. De La Rosa
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Okay.
0:47:17
Would you would you, be open to reconsidering some of the application fees or lowering them in the future, for either all exams or just for the titles that are experiencing high vacancy rates at this time?
Katrina Porter
0:47:32
So we're always open to, you know, new ideas and suggestions to help, the city attract top talent.
0:47:39
We do believe that the bridge exam is one of those, you know, exam types that allow, a candidate to pay a fee but to, you know, get more bang for their buck by, being eligible for up to, 10 exams.
Carmen N. De La Rosa
0:47:52
What's the fee for the bridge again?
Katrina Porter
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It's 40 it's a $40 flat flat rate.
Carmen N. De La Rosa
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Okay.
Katrina Porter
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And then we recently expanded this model for what we're calling the public safety exam Mhmm.
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Which was recently, open for filing, at the end of last year.
0:48:06
So, you know, just taking that model and then continue to expand expand upon it so that candidates, you know, have more opportunities to be appointed from lists.