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Development services says new high‑school work and staffing turnover are driving plan‑review and inspection costs; council asks for staffing and revenue review
Summary
Development services staff told the council that contractor and commercial work including the new high school have driven unusual plan‑review volume; the department says it needs an additional permit technician and a civil engineer if the city wants to bring more plan review and inspections in‑house instead of paying consultants.
La Marque’s development services staff told council on Aug. 5 that an unusually heavy run of commercial work — most notably the new high school — and recent staff turnover have increased reliance on outside consultants for plan review and inspections and pushed professional‑services spending higher.
Director Jason (transcript: "mister Alec" and other consultants) and building staff said the city currently relies on third‑party firms to do commercial plan review and field inspections. The team said shifting more plan review and inspection in‑house would reduce recurring consultant charges but would require hiring a civil engineer and adding permanent permit/inspection staff.
The department estimated that, if the office were fully staffed (a permit coordinator, two full‑time permit technicians, one part‑time permit technician and a building inspector), payroll would sit near $400,000 and would allow the city to dramatically reduce outside professional fees. Staff suggested one additional hire — a licensed civil engineer — would be required to replace the ongoing consultant engineering work; that hire would add to payroll but be substantially less than ongoing consultant fees when amortized over several years.
Council members requested a tighter reconciliation of building‑permit revenue and consultant expenses because the city has recorded a large permit payment from the school district this year. City finance staff agreed to reconcile the permit fee receipts and the consultant plan‑review charges and to report back with a clearer picture of how much of the permit revenue is already identified for consultants and how much could offset new hires.
Next steps: staff will provide a reconciliation of permit revenues and consultant charges for the council and outline a staffing plan and cost comparison showing the break‑even point for moving plan review and inspection in‑house.
