Staff propose new 0.5% community development fee, 3% tech fee and business‑license restructuring; council asks for carve‑outs

City staff presented proposed changes to building and business‑license fees at the Sherwood City Council work session on May 6, including a new 0.5% community development fee on project valuation for building permits, a 3% technology fee on permit fees, increases to plan‑review percentages and a revised, tiered business‑license schedule; councilors asked staff to return with refinements and no vote was taken.

Eric, a Community Development staff member, said the largest proposed change is a 0.5% community development fee applied to project valuation reported on building permit applications. “This would be 0.5% of that project value,” he said, and staff noted that Newberg uses 0.75% while a neighboring jurisdiction has 0.25%.

Staff offered examples to show impact: a 150,000‑square‑foot flex industrial building with an estimated project valuation of $13 million would pay about $65,000 under a 0.5% fee — roughly equivalent to the current building‑permit fee — while a typical 2,500‑square‑foot house with a project valuation Eric cited at $4.75 million would face a proposed 0.5% fee of about $2,300. Eric and Jared Bradbury, the city’s building official, emphasized that system development charges…