9. Staff Report-Building Permit FeesSCANDIA
Staff Report
Date of Meeting: February 4, 2015
To: City Council
From: Kristina Handt, Administrator
Re: Building Permit fees
Background:
On January 22nd Deputy Clerk Eklund and I met with the Clerk and Building Officials from
Hugo to begin preparing for the transition in services. We discussed processes and fees. In
Scandia we had only been charging for mechanical and plumbing permits if it was an existing
house. New houses did not receive the additional charges. Hugo staff explained to us that the
building permit fee for new constructions only cover the structure and not the other components.
Furthermore, we had been charging a flat $50 fee for mechanical and plumbing permits. Hugo
has a per fixture fee, which seems to be more appropriate. If a house has three bathrooms there
is more to inspect than if there is just one bathroom.
Another longstanding practice we've had in Scandia is to charge a flat fee for roofing, siding or
windows, rather than using the valuation chart. We have been charging $99.50 for one of the
above or $125 for any combination. Although this is a practice that dates back to the City's first
building official, it has not been included in our ordinances.
Issue:
Should the City amend the fees for certain types of building permits?
Proposal Details:
Staff is proposing the Scandia ordinances be amended to adopt plumbing and mechanical permit
fees similar to Hugo's (the practice of charging per fixture), however the Council should discuss
if some of the fees should remain $50 where Hugo's are currently $30 or $35. Also, for an item
such as a new water heater, should there be the $50 fee instead of $8.
In addition staff would recommend the ordinance be amended to provide for a lower fee for
items such as roofing, windows or siding as described above. An alternative to this option would
be to amend the chart based on total valuation to be more similar to Hugo's which starts out with
a $25 for values up to $500 as opposed to Scandia's current minimum of $99.50 for values up to
$4,000. Hugo has adopted the schedule recommended by the LMC/AMM Building Permit Fee
Working Group.
Lastly, staff would propose amending the other inspection fees in Section (F) from $50 to $58
per hour to cover the costs charged by Hugo.
Options:
1) Direct staff to prepare ordinance changes as described for adoption at next Council
meeting
2) Direct staff to make other ordinance changes for adoption at next Council meeting
3) Make no changes to existing ordinance and practices