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Subcommittee approves Land Use Board of Appeals budget bill, adopts fee increase and reclassification
Summary
The Ways and Means Natural Resources Subcommittee approved the Legislative Fiscal Office recommendation for Senate Bill 5529, including a recommended general-fund budget near $3.48 million, a fee increase for land-use filings, a staff reclassification and a small IT replacement package, and moved the bill to full committee with a due-pass.
The Ways and Means Natural Resources Subcommittee approved the Legislative Fiscal Office (LFO) recommendation for Senate Bill 5529, the appropriation bill for the Land Use Board of Appeals, and moved the measure to the full Ways and Means committee with a due-pass recommendation on Thursday.
Emily of the Legislative Fiscal Office told the subcommittee the recommended 2025–27 budget for the Land Use Board of Appeals is $3,481,376 general fund, $39,616 other funds and 7 positions (7.0 FTE), "representing a 16.1% increase from the 23-25 legislatively approved budget," driven by statewide personal‑services growth, standard inflation and three budget packages.
The fiscal packages include $9,357 general fund to cover personal‑services costs tied to a reclassification of an existing support position; a revenue‑only package reflecting fee increases tied to Senate Bill 817; and $13,000 general fund for expendable property to meet the Department of Administrative Services laptop lifecycle replacement schedule. The LFO said the fee changes — increasing the fee to intervene from $100 to $200 and the fee to file an appeal from $300 to $350, effective Jan. 1, 2026 — are expected to generate an estimated $20,650 in additional revenue in the 2025–27 biennium that will be transferred to the general fund.
On performance measures, Emily told members the LFO recommends replacing key performance measure (KPM) No. 1 with the percentage of land‑use appeals resolved within the statutory deadline (or, if all parties agree, within a single 21‑day extension) and deleting KPM No. 3 without replacement because the agency cannot track decisions where "all issues are resolved when reversing or remanding a land use decision." The subcommittee approved the LFO recommendation on KPMs.
Co‑Chair Frederick made the motions to adopt the LFO recommendation on the budget, to adopt the dash‑3 amendment that reflects the recommended budget language, and to move SB 5529 as amended to the full committee with a due‑pass recommendation. Each motion carried with no recorded opposition on the work‑session record.
Senator Anderson asked whether any costs were reduced; the LFO replied there were no reductions from CSL and that two packages were added (the IT replacement and the revenue‑only fee increase) along with the reclassification. When Anderson suggested the fee increases might not be large enough to cover program needs, the record shows the comment but no change to the recommendation was made.
The subcommittee closed the SB 5529 work session and scheduled further budget work for subsequent days. The LFO told members the subcommittee will take up the Department of Energy appropriation and fee‑ratification bills on May 20 and may double up hearings to meet floor deadlines.
