Fees and payments

The City of Menlo Park assesses fees and accepts electronic payments via our online permit center, also referred to as 'Accela' or 'ACA' (Accela Citizen Access).

Fees

Permit fees are assessed at the amounts specified in the master fee schedule, which is adopted by the City Council. Most fees are charged after staff has reviewed an online submittal and confirmed that it meets minimum requirements. In such cases, the applicant will receive an email invoice, with application review pausing until the required fees are paid. However, some record types (e.g., Photovoltaic Real-Time) charge fees prior to online submittal.

Please also note that some records require payment of fees at multiple milestones. For example, Building Permits typically require payment of plan check fees before the start of detailed review, as well as payment of inspection/permit fees prior to issuance.

Payments

The City is pleased to accept electronic payment through the online permit center. In order to pay, a user must be:

1. Logged into the portal with an active account (Note: if you do not have an account already, click on the "register for an account" link and follow the prompts); and
2. Connected to the applicable record (Note: the original applicant is connected to the record by default, and other project contacts may be added by staff, upon request and with documentation of affiliation)

Once both conditions are met, a customer may start fee payment via the Payments/Fees menu on the applicable record:

The following page will display a summary of outstanding and (if applicable) paid fees. Click the Pay Fees link to proceed:

The following page will display a more detailed fee listing. If everything looks correct, click Continue Application:

Note that the online permit center requires full payment of all invoiced fees; partial payments are not accepted. The following screen requires the user to select the payment method and click Submit Payment to proceed:

Payment is accepted via the following methods: 

Once you select your preferred payment option, you will be routed to the third-party payment processor. Credit card payment, with the applicable processing fee, is shown in the following example:

Upon completion of payment, the user will be automatically redirected to back to the online permit center. Please note that City fee receipts do not currently display the processing fees, which are charged by the payment processor. However, the payment processor will send an itemized invoice with that broken out, if the customer lists their email address when completing the payment screen.

The City can also accept check payments, either via mail (City of Menlo Park, 701 Laurel Street, Menlo Park CA 94025) or in-person drop-off, although this typically results in longer processing times than online payment. If you pay via check, please write your record number on the check memo line and include a copy of the relevant invoice. Please note that mailing checks is not advised generally by some security experts, as checks can be intercepted in transit and used for fraudulent purposes. 

Scam/fraud alert

The City of Menlo Park is aware of some applicants (in particular, Planning applicants recently scheduled for public hearings) being targeted with fraudulent invoices by scammers. The scams may reference names of real City staff members or public officials, along with public permit details, but the sender's domain name often differs from the official City domain (menlopark.gov), and the email contains other discrepancies. All applicants should be advised:

• Pay only at the online permit center (menlopark.gov/permitcenter) or by check at or to: 701 Laurel Street, Menlo Park CA 94025.
• Never pay via wire transfer, and never mail payment to a different address.
• Unsure about an invoice? Contact known staff member before paying.