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Leawood council moves business, licensing and permit fees into a 2025 fee schedule; adopts multiple code amendments
Summary
The council adopted ordinances moving business, animal and other licensing fees out of the municipal code into a consolidated 2025 fee schedule and approved the fee schedule by resolution. Several department fees changed, including new fire-department class fees and higher right-of-way and street-degradation fees.
The Leawood Governing Body approved a package of ordinances on Jan. 6 to move various licensing and permit fees out of the municipal code and into a consolidated 2025 fee schedule, and it adopted the new schedule by resolution.
Councilmembers voted unanimously on multiple ordinance amendments that shift business licensing, animal licensing and solid-waste collector permit fees to the city fee schedule so fees can be updated annually without amending the code. Stephen Powell, a city staff member, said the move was primarily administrative and not intended to change the amount of fees except where departments proposed specific adjustments.
Notable fee changes and new fees highlighted in staff materials include a proposed $25 per-person fee for certified CPR/AED/First Aid public-education classes administered by the Fire Department (staff noted there had previously been no fee for the certified classes), increased fingerprinting/background-check fees in the Police Department to match KBI charges, an increase to the arterial-street permit fee (from $391.50 to $494.33) in Public Works to reflect construction-cost changes, and adjustments to right-of-way and street-degradation fees. Park and recreation fees saw several adjustments, including shelter and camp fees and challenge-course and school-programming charges. Planning Services added fees for lot splits and certain inspection or compliance letters.
The council adopted the new 2025 fee schedule by unanimous vote and rescinded the prior resolution adopting the 2024 schedule. Staff said the changes were proposed after interdepartmental review; the packet highlighted fees that changed and described a small number of genuinely new charges intended to recover actual costs for certain services.
Why it matters: consolidating fees into a single annual schedule simplifies administrative updates and lets departments align permit/inspection fees with current costs. Specific fee increases will affect developers, utilities working in the right-of-way, and private-event organizers who hire city officers for security.
Next steps: Departments will implement the new fee schedule and update permit and licensing workflows; council-approved changes are effective immediately per the adopting resolution.
