Správce poplatku může vyměřit místní poplatek ze psů.

A simple breakdown is:

• Správce = the administrator / collector; the subject of the sentence
• poplatku = of the fee; depends on správce
• může = can / may
• vyměřit = to assess / levy / impose officially
• místní poplatek = local fee; the direct object
• ze psů = on dogs / from dogs; specifies what kind of fee it is

So the structure is basically:

[subject] + [modal verb] + [main infinitive] + [object]

= Správce poplatku může vyměřit místní poplatek ze psů.

Because správce normally takes the genitive: it means administrator/manager of something.

So:

• správce školy = school administrator
• správce daně = tax administrator
• správce poplatku = administrator of the fee

The basic noun is poplatek. Its genitive singular is poplatku.

In legal or administrative Czech, vyměřit means something like:

• to assess
• to levy
• to impose officially
• to determine the amount of a tax/fee

It is not just a general give or charge. It has an official, formal meaning, especially in tax and fee contexts.

So in this sentence, vyměřit místní poplatek means that the authority can formally assess or impose the local fee.

Because it follows the modal verb může.

In Czech, after modal verbs such as:

• moci = can / be able to
• muset = must
• smět = may / be allowed to
• chtít = want to

the main verb usually appears in the infinitive.

So:

• může vyměřit = can/may assess
• literally: is able/allowed to assess

Because místní poplatek is the direct object of vyměřit, so it is in the accusative singular.

But here there is an important detail: poplatek is a masculine inanimate noun, and for many masculine inanimate nouns, the nominative and accusative singular have the same form.

So:

• nominative: místní poplatek
• accusative: místní poplatek

They look identical.

Both z and ze mean from/out of/of, and both govern the genitive.
The form ze is often used for easier pronunciation, especially before difficult consonant clusters.

Here, psů begins with ps-, which is awkward after plain z, so Czech uses:

• ze psů

rather than:

• z psů

This is very normal and mostly a pronunciation issue.

Psů is the genitive plural of pes (dog).

So:

• basic form: pes
• genitive plural: psů

This is an irregular noun, so the plural forms do not look very similar to the singular.

In this sentence, the genitive is required by z/ze.

Because this phrase names a type of fee, not a fee connected with one specific dog.

In legal and administrative Czech, this kind of wording often uses the plural to mean the category in general:

• poplatek ze psů = fee on dogs / dog fee

It does not mean only that several dogs are involved in one specific situation. It is the standard label for that kind of local fee.

It can suggest either, depending on context.

In everyday language, může often means can = is able to.
In legal language, it often means may = is permitted / is authorized to.

Here, because the sentence is clearly administrative/legal, může is best understood as:

• may
• is authorized to
• has the power to

So the meaning is not mainly about physical ability, but about legal authority.

Because Czech has no articles.

English distinguishes:

• a local fee
• the local fee

Czech normally does not. The sentence simply says:

• místní poplatek

and the exact English article depends on context.

That is very normal in Czech, and learners from English often notice it quickly.

Not completely. Czech word order is more flexible than English word order.

This sentence uses a very natural neutral order for formal writing:

• Správce poplatku může vyměřit místní poplatek ze psů.

You could rearrange parts of it, but that would usually change the emphasis or sound more marked.

For example, putting místní poplatek ze psů earlier would emphasize the fee itself more. The given order is straightforward and typical for legal style.

Yes, very much so.

Several things make it formal/legal:

• správce poplatku is administrative terminology
• vyměřit is a legal/bureaucratic verb
• the whole sentence sounds like something from a law, regulation, or official document

In everyday speech, people would usually say something much less formal when talking about the same idea.

So this is good Czech to learn for reading official texts, but not the most conversational wording.