The City of Fresno is suspending public-facing counter service at all City facilities, effective Wednesday, March 18, 2020.  The Administration is doing everything it can to protect the public with social distancing strategies. During this temporary closure, City staff will still provide services electronically and via telephone.

City Hall will remain open to the public for official city meetings or essential services as determined by the City Manager.  Media access is still available.

In an effort to limit the amount of interpersonal contact, the City offers a variety of options for anyone wishing, or needing, to conduct business with the City of Fresno.

Business License: Applications for, or renewals of, business licenses or business tax certificates can be completed online at https://www.fresno.gov/finance. Our Frequently Asked Questions section has useful answers to many common questions.  Or you may contact our Customer Service division at (559) 621-6880 or [email protected]. Customer service hours are from 9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.  You may also mail your applications, payments, or questions to the City of Fresno Business Tax Division, PO Box 45017, Fresno CA 93718-5017.  Or you may use the dropbox just inside the doors of the first floor at City hall, before passing security.

City Clerk’s Office: For information about the Fresno Municipal Code, Campaign Finance Statements, Public Records Requests, information about Ordinances, Resolutions and Agenda Packets, or other legislative-related matters please visit https://www.fresno.gov/cityclerk.

Code Enforcement: Code enforcement issues can be reported through the FresGO mobile app or by calling 3-1-1.  To access the Rental Housing Registry or Vacant Building Registry please visit https://www.fresno.gov/codeenforcement.  To submit an Administrative Appeal Form online scroll down and click on the “Administrative Hearing Appeal” box.  Residents can also call (559) 621-8400 for all customer service issues related to Code Enforcement. Code enforcement can also accept payments over the phone.

Office of Independent Review: Residents wishing to file a complaint with the Office of Independent Review(OIR), view past reports, or contact the OIR can do so online at https://www.fresno.gov/oir

PARCS: Senior Programs – The City has suspended all senior programming including the meal program.  However, our staff members are currently contacting each of our senior participants to determine whether or not they are interested in receiving home delivered meals.

Special Event Permits – Applications for permits have been suspended through March.  The Fresno Chaffee Zoo has been closed until the end of March.  The City and Zoo leadership will reassess the temporary closure at the end of the month.

Parking Division: Visit https://www.fresno.gov/parking to apply for, or purchase, residential parking permits or to pay, or appeal, a parking citation.

Personnel Services Department: Information about job postings, job specifications and job applications are available at https://www.fresno.gov/jobs.

Planning and Development: Permit applications can be submitted, and progress can be monitored, online through our FAASTER portal.  The FAASTER portal can be accessed by visiting https://www.fresno.gov/darm then clicking Submit, Review or Search for an Application.

Public Utilities: DPU will  suspend several free water conservation consultation services until further notice.  The suspended services include Water-Wise Landscape Consultations, Irrigation Efficiency Audits, and Water Leak Surveys.  Irrigation Controller Assistance (Timer Tutorials) will be available via telephone only.  City outdoor watering restrictions are still in place.

Purchasing: Bid opportunities and updated information are available on the City’s website, under the “Doing Business” tab, then click on bid opportunities.

Utility Payments/Business Tax: Utility payments can be made through various methods.

1)    Online at https://www.fresno.gov/publicutilities then clicking the Utility Billing: Payment & Fees box.
2)    By mail:

City of Fresno
Utilities Billing and Collection Division
P.O. Box 2069
Fresno, CA 93718-2069

3)    Via phone by calling (559) 621-6888 (Credit card payments only).
4)    Drop off: A Drop Box just inside the doors of the first floor at City Hall, before passing security.

For the latest information on services or events, call 3-1-1 or visit the City of Fresno website at www.fresno.gov.

Constituents are encouraged to visit www.cdc.gov to learn more about COVID-19 and follow the Fresno County Department of Public Health for regular updates.

Fresno City Manager Wilma Quan today signed an executive order updating the City of Fresno’s state of emergency regarding bars and restaurants.

In addition to the closure of all bars, nightclubs, breweries, and lounges, the City of Fresno is limiting all local restaurants to food delivery and takeout, effective immediately, while maximizing social distancing for those who are inside their restaurants until further notice.

The Fresno Police Department and Code Enforcement will be enforcing the emergency order.  Violations shall be punishable as a misdemeanor upon conviction by fine and possible imprisonment.  We ask that owners and managers of bars and restaurants work with the City to ensure compliance and reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19.

Copies of the executive orders are attached and will be posted on the City of Fresno website, as well as the latest information on services and events, at the City of Fresno Coronavirus webpage.

Constituents are encouraged to visit https://www.cdc.gov to learn more about COVID-19 and follow the Fresno County Department of Public Health for regular updates.

Emergency Order 2020-01

Fresno Mayor Lee Brand today proclaimed a State of Emergency for the City of Fresno in a move to help the city receive state and federal funding connected to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) disease.  Mayor Brand – who made the decision after recent announcements by Governor Gavin Newsom and the County of Fresno – asked the Council to confirm the emergency proclamation at its special meeting today, Monday, March 16, 2020.

Section 2-503(a) of the Fresno Municipal Code (FMC) states the Mayor has the power to issue a proclamation of emergency if the Fresno City Council is not in session, subject to confirmation by Council at the earliest practicable time.  

“I believe this is a sensible step to ensure the City of Fresno is in the best position to protect the people of Fresno and be eligible for any federal or state funding connected to the pandemic,” said Mayor Brand. “We will continue to monitor the disease and support the Governor’s office and Fresno County health officials as they work to do what is best for our community.  I encourage everyone to stay calm and stay informed while we navigate the unsteady waters of this crisis.”

City Hall remains open to the public, but In an effort to reduce the number of visitors, the City of Fresno offers a variety of online options for anyone wishing, or need, to conduct business with the City of Fresno.  Here is a list of the online platforms provided by the City of Fresno:

Pay or appeal a parking ticket

Submit, review or search for a building application

Start your utility service

Stop your utility service

Pay your utility bill

Get help for your water, sewer or garbage issues

Apply for your business license

Pay your business taxes

Report a crime

Agendas and meeting information

Submit an e-comment for Council meetings

The Administration has prohibited all public meetings of more than 50 people and is also closing community centers, after school programs and weekend recreation programs. The City is also requesting meetings with under 50 people to practice social distancing.

The Convention Center, including Selland Arena and the Saroyan Theatre, has canceled all programs for the immediate future. 

For the latest information on event status, call 3-1-1 or visit the City of Fresno website at www.fresno.gov.

Constituents are encouraged to visit www.cdc.gov to learn more about COVID-19 and follow the Fresno County Department of Public Health for regular updates.

Based on recommendations from the Governor’s Office and the Fresno County Department of Public Health, Mayor Lee Brand and City Manager Wilma Quan today announced the City of Fresno is strongly recommending postponement or cancellation of all non-essential public community events, group activities with 250 or more participants,  and any gathering that requires close contact between vulnerable individuals. 

The recommendation follows statewide guidelines issued late Wednesday by Gov. Gavin Newsom, which detail a new California Department of Public Health policy that includes a recommendation to cancel or postpone all gatherings of 250 people or more, along with additional strategies to protect public health and slow the spread of COVID-19.

“We’re taking sensible and reasonable steps to keep our community safe and informed,” said Mayor Brand. “Our reality is changing on a daily basis and we are in regular communication with the Governor’s office as well as County public health officials, who are doing an exceptional job at guiding the public and affected organizations through a very anxious time.”

The Administration is also canceling all City-produced events, meetings or conferences that are anticipated to attract more than 250 people.  City staff is working to determine which events will be affected by this decision.

City officials have contacted the operators of City-owned venues including the Convention Center, Selland Arena, the Saroyan Theater, Veterans Memorial Auditorium, and Granite Park to recommend actions that will reduce exposure from large public gatherings. Changes in events at those venues will be made in cooperation with event promoters.

For the latest information on event status, call 3-1-1 or visit the City of Fresno website at www.fresno.gov.

In an effort to reduce the number of visitors at City Hall, the City of Fresno offers a variety of options for anyone wishing, or needing, to conduct business with the City of Fresno:

Business License: Applications for, or renewals of, business licenses or business tax certificates can be done online at www.fresno.gov/finance.  Customers can drop off their business tax payments in the Drop Box just inside the first floor doors of City Hall.  Our Frequently Asked Questions section has useful answers to many common questions, or you may contact our Customer Service division at (559) 621-6880 or [email protected].

City Clerk’s Office: For information about the Fresno Municipal Code, Campaign Finance Statements, Public Records Requests, information about Ordinances, Resolutions and Agenda Packets, or other legislative-related matters please visit www.fresno.gov/cityclerk.

Code Enforcement: Code enforcement issues can be reported through the FresGO mobile app or by calling 3-1-1.

PARCS Department:

Senior Programs –  Non-meal activity has been suspended and staff is transitioning from communal meals to box lunches. The hours of operation are from 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Pot of Gold Senior Dance at Ted C. Wills on March 21, 2020, has been canceled.

Special Event Permits – Applications for permits have been suspended through March

Bitty Tee Ball – Suspended through March.

Youth Basketball – Suspended through March.

Parking Division: Visit www.fresno.gov/parking to apply for, or purchase, residential parking permits or to pay or appeal a parking citation.

Planning and Development: Permit applications can be submitted and progress can be monitored online through our FAASTER portal.  The FAASTER portal can be accessed by visiting www.fresno.gov/darm then clicking Submit, Review or Search for an Application.

Purchasing: Bid opportunities and updated information are available on the City’s website, under the “Doing Business” tab, then click on bid opportunities.

Utility Payments: Utility payments can be made through various methods.

1)    Online at www.fresno.gov/publicutilities then clicking the Utility Billing: Payment & Fees box.

2)    By mail:

                  City of Fresno

                  Utilities Billing and Collection Division

                  P.O. Box 2069

                  Fresno, CA 93718-2069

3)    Via phone by calling 559-621-6888 (Credit card payments only).

4)    Drop off: A Drop Box just inside the doors of the first floor at City Hall, before passing security.

Constituents are encouraged to visit www.cdc.gov to learn more about COVID-19 and follow the Fresno County Department of Public Health for regular updates.

On Monday, the City of Fresno began its Highway Litter Abatement Program that will service all four State highways (SR-41, SR-99, SR-168, and SR-180) within the city limits on a 30-day cycle.  The program is done in partnership with Caltrans District 6 and the Fresno County Transportation Authority (FCTA).  Funding for this project comes from monies from the City of Fresno and Measure “C”.

The program was originally proposed by Mayor Lee Brand and then-councilmember Steve Brandau in 2018 after the FCTA Board amended the Measure “C” Transportation Expenditure Plan to include a pilot Litter Abatement Program.  The Pilot Program was intended to demonstrate the feasibility of using Measure “C” and other local funds to enhance litter abatement activities currently performed by Caltrans on the State Highway System.  It was recognized that the highway investments made by the original Measure “C” program, as well as the Measure “C” Extension program, have added a significant amount of freeway mileage with no additional resources for freeway maintenance.

“I want to thank my Public Works Director Scott Mozier and FCTA Executive Director Mike Leonardo for their hard work in bringing this pilot program to life. This is all about being creative and collaborating with our partners to look at our problems in new ways and find solutions that work,” said Mayor Brand. “That’s why I appreciate the relationship the City has with Caltrans and the Fresno County Transportation Authority to develop a sustainable program to keep our highways as free of litter as possible. Combined with our new Keep Fresno Beautiful initiative, the community will soon start to see significant improvement in the look of our great city.”

Caltrans has committed to matching any local funds on a one-for-one basis up to a maximum of $500,000 over two years, essentially providing 50% of the necessary funding.  The FCTA amendment provides another 25% of the funding, with the City providing the remaining 25%.  This new FY2020 program for the City of Fresno provides a total of $400,000 in funding, with $200,000 from Caltrans, $100,000 from FCTA and $100,000 from the City of Fresno.

On January 16, 2020, the City awarded a one-year contract for services to Landscape Maintenance of America with the option to renew one additional year.  Their crew will rotate abatement services on a weekly basis, starting this week with SR-99, followed by SR-41, SR-168 and then SR-180.

The City is also exploring other options such as using the Adult Offender Work Program (AOWP) to provide additional support in the highway cleanup efforts – an idea brought forth by Councilmember Garry Bredefeld.  The goal for the AOWP crew will be to deploy them by October 1, 2020, once the State budget is approved, the City-Caltrans agreement is in place and City leadworker and van are made available to work full-time with the AOWP crew.

Mayor Lee Brand and City Manager Wilma Quan today announced that Thomas Gaffery has been hired as Deputy City Manager for the City of Fresno.  In his new role, Gaffery will oversee customer service and related analytics of service technologies such as the City’s 311 system and FresGO mobile app in addition to maintaining management of the Parking Division.  This position was previously titled Director of Customer Relations and Analytics.

“I’m excited to have Thomas join our team as Deputy City Manager where we can combine his success in upgrading our parking services with his passion for exceptional customer service and his strong organizational abilities,” said City Manager Wilma Quan. “We’re fortunate to have someone with Thomas’ talents to lead our customer relations efforts.”

Gaffery joined the City of Fresno in 2018 as Parking Division Manager.  In that capacity, he has been instrumental in implementing a number of transformational changes to the City’s parking program including the successful launch of the ParkMobile app, the introduction of online parking permit sales, and progress toward deploying credit card parking meters.

Prior to joining the City, he spent over 13 years in leadership roles at the California State University, Fresno and San Bernardino campuses.

Gaffery has presented sessions at over a dozen national and international conferences.  He currently serves as the Legislative Committee Chair of the California Public Parking Association, and was recognized by the National Parking Association as one of its “40 Under 40.”

Gaffery graduated with his Master’s Degree in Business Administration and Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from Fresno State.

The City of Fresno announced the launch of Opportunity Fresno, a branded “prospectus” for the city and county of Fresno that showcases the pipeline of investible business and development projects located in Opportunity Zones (OZ) in the City of Fresno and Fresno County.  The Prospectus was produced as a partnership between several agencies including the City of Fresno, the Fresno County EDC, the Fresno Housing Authority, the Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission, Access + Capital and the Wiebe Hinton Himbalek accounting firm.

“We are proud of the collaborative public-private partnership behind Opportunity Fresno and believe that it will serve as an insightful tool for investors, businesses and participating projects to showcase Fresno County as investment-ready and investment-worthy,” said Lee Ann Eager, President/CEO of the Fresno County Economic Development Commission.

Opportunity Zones were launched as part of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act to encourage private investment in distressed communities by providing tax incentives for owners of development projects and operating businesses in locations that otherwise might have gotten a pass in favor of more wealthy communities.  Opportunity Zones correspond to Census Tracts; to be eligible, the Opportunity Zone must have a poverty rate of 20% or higher or a median family income not exceeding 80% of the statewide median.  Opportunity Zones in urban census tracts in Fresno County have an average poverty rate of 39.8% while rural Opportunity Zones in Fresno County have an average poverty rate of 36.5%.

The Opportunity Fresno website can be found at www.opportunityfresno.com and provides a data-driven summary of why the greater Fresno economy is an attractive target for private equity investment.  It provides a way to communicate to Qualified Opportunity Funds about the features and benefits of a particular community as well as to identify its challenges.

“This website is a key component of our strategic effort to connect key players in the development industry with existing local ventures eligible for the Opportunity Zone incentive program. It also provides a platform for local business owners and developers to showcase new investment opportunities and show the world why it’s great to work, live, and play in Fresno,” said Mayor Brand. “We encourage anyone who has a qualifying business investment or development opportunity to submit their projects to be featured on the Opportunity Fresno website.”

The website also offers local business owners and developers a platform to showcase their investable projects that match the region’s overall economic and community priorities with the hopes of reaching the broader investment community.

While the City of Fresno provides technical assistance to business owners for publishing their projects, the representatives of the individual projects are responsible for all financial information published on the website.

City of Fresno offices will be closed in observance of the Presidents Day holiday on Monday, February 17, 2020.  Normal operations will resume on Tuesday, February 18.  Here is the schedule for City of Fresno operations for the holiday:

Airports:  Administrative offices closed;  Terminal, concessions, and airlines normal operations otherwise.

Business License:  Office closed.  The Business Tax Web Renewal will be available for TOT (only) throughout the Presidents Day holiday.

City Clerk’s Office:  Closed.

City Hall Offices:  Closed.

Code Enforcement:  Closed.

Dog License Division:  Closed.

Finance Offices:  Offices closed.  Business Tax TOT (only) Web Renewal and new business tax online application submittals will be available throughout the Presidents Day holiday.

Fire/Police Departments:  Administrative offices and public counters will be closed.  Normal operations otherwise.

Fresno Area Express:  Administrative offices closed.  Sunday bus routes/schedule in effect.  Call (559) 621-7433 for details.  FAX route maps and schedules are available on the City’s website.

Parking Division:  No enforcement at parking meters and City parking facilities on Presidents Day.  Office closed for citation payments.  Online services available at www.fresno.gov/parking.

Parks and Recreation (PARCS):  Administrative offices closed.  Parks facilities and recreation centers operating with normal schedule.

Personnel:  Closed. Online applications accepted at www.fresno.gov/jobs.

Planning and Development:  Office closed.  Permit applications can be submitted, and progress can be monitored, online through our FAASTER portal at any time during the Presidents holiday.

Public Utilities:  Offices closed.

Public Works:  Offices closed.

Purchasing:  Office closed; Bid opportunities and updated information are available on the City’s website, under the “For Businesses” tab, then click on bid opportunities.

Rental Housing:  Closed

Residential Solid Waste:  Administrative offices closed.  Normal residential and commercial collection schedule; for questions regarding residential solid waste collection, please call the Solid Waste Management Division at (559) 621-1452.

Utility Payments/Business Tax:  Payment counters closed (Fresno City Hall and Manchester Center.)  Online and phone transactions available for utility payments.

For urgent matters during the Presidents Day holiday, please call 3-1-1 or use our FresGO mobile app.

The City of Fresno has launched additional downtown parking enhancements.

Easy-to-use solar-powered parking pay stations have been installed in six public downtown parking lots.  The pay stations feature an easy-to-use interface and a 7” full-color display screen.  Coins, bills, credit cards, and debit cards are accepted.  Users simply enter the license plate number and select their desired parking duration.  Directional signage to the pay stations has been added to the parking lots.  Drivers can continue to utilize the ParkMobile app in these locations as well.

“The City is committed to ongoing parking enhancements in Downtown Fresno. We still have many more changes in store, including the launch of credit card enabled parking meters,” says Thomas Gaffery, Parking Division Manager with the City of Fresno. 

The installation of the new pay stations began on January 15.  The City is partnering with Flowbird, a leading provider of parking payment technologies.  The company supplies parking systems to major cities across the country including Los Angeles, Sacramento, Oceanside, and Paso Robles.

The pay stations service the following locations:

• Promenade Lot, 2650 Tulare St
• City Hall North Lot, 2600 Fresno St
• Water Tower Lot, 1100 O St
• Fulton/Inyo Lot, 815 Fulton St
• Merced/Van Ness Garage, 2020 Merced St
• The Met Lot, 1605 Van Ness Ave.