Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Land Use Luba Fees topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee holds hearing on LUBA fee increase; agency says modest revenue would not cover costs
Summary
Senate Bill 817 would raise Land Use Board of Appeals filing and intervention fees. LUBA officials told the committee fees cover only a small portion of the agency's costs and the proposed increase would modestly raise general fund transfers; no committee vote was taken
The House Committee on Agriculture, Land Use, Natural Resources and Water opened and closed a public hearing April 23 on Senate Bill 817, which would raise filing and intervener fees at the Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA).
What the bill would change: H. M. Zamudio, chair of LUBA, told the committee SB 817 would increase the appeal filing fee from $300 to $350 and raise the intervener fee from $100 to $200. The bill would also remove the requirement that LUBA award the filing fee to the local government when a party fails to file an opening brief.
Why LUBA seeks the change: Zamudio said the Board's legislatively approved biennial budget for 2023–25 is about $3,000,000, while revenues from appeal and intervener filing fees for that biennium are estimated at roughly $97,000. LUBA is primarily generally funded and appeal fee revenues are transferred to the general fund; fees do not cover LUBA's operational costs. SB 817's fee increases are estimated to raise about $20,650 in additional transfers to the general fund for the 2025–27 biennium (Zamudio's estimate shared with the committee). Zamudio described the proposed changes as "a very modest increase" and said the new fee levels would be more in line with appellate courts.
Questions from the committee focused on caseload and intervention frequency. Zamudio said LUBA receives about 230 appeals per biennium (roughly 115 per year) and that interveners appear in most appeals, estimating intervention occurs in "probably 80%" of appeals.
Outcome: There were no public sign-ups to testify and the committee closed the public hearing; no committee action was recorded at the session.
Ending: The committee moved on to other items on the agenda.
