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Port Richey extends hurricane damage building‑fee waiver 60 days; council asks staff to study fee treatment for raised or rebuilt homes
Summary
Port Richey extended for 60 days a previously approved waiver of building permit fees for repairs tied to Hurricanes Elaine and Milton and asked staff to return with more analysis on permit and impact‑fee treatment for homes that must be raised or rebuilt.
Port Richey City Council on March 11 extended for 60 days a previously approved waiver of building permit fees for repairs tied to Hurricanes Elaine and Milton, and asked staff to prepare follow‑up analysis on how fee waivers and treatment of elevated or rebuilt homes should be handled.
What the council approved: the vote extended the existing fee waiver for an additional 60 days. Staff said the program — approved in October 2024 — has produced 205 issued permits and roughly 70 pending applications. Staff reported the city has waived $217,654.99 in permit fees under the program, and estimated the associated improvement value at $307,797.69.
FEMA and reimbursement: staff cautioned that waiving local fees can reduce the city’s potential FEMA reimbursement because FEMA will typically subtract waived local fees from the claimable cost base. As staff put it, FEMA will ‘‘take off the value of the waived fees’’ and reimburse the difference.
Council discussion and next steps: councilmembers debated whether to leave the waiver open‑ended or set a finite cutoff date; staff and the city attorney recommended having an end date to avoid an open, indefinite waiver. Council reached consensus to extend the waiver for 60 days and directed staff to return with an analysis on how to treat substantial‑damage scenarios where homeowners may need to raise houses or replace structures — scenarios currently treated as new construction for permitting and impact fees.
Additional issues identified: council asked staff to present counts and cost estimates for cases involving raising homes, demolish‑and‑rebuild scenarios and incremental impact‑fee liabilities, because those choices can affect ad valorem assessment, permit revenue and the city’s administrative workload.
Ending: staff will bring back a follow‑up report with numerical analysis on the number of substantially damaged homes, potential fee relief options (including partial waivers), and implementation language for any change to the program.
