Council debates large proposed increases to zoning application fees; no vote taken

Council members discussed a staff proposal to raise zoning and permitting fees after staff presented a chart showing the borough's average costs and proposed new charges. Staff said average cost per application for the last 29 cases was about $574.78 while the current fee revenue averaged $225.91, and recommended increases to better align fees with staff time and other direct costs.

Several councilors said the proposed increases were too large for residents and could become a barrier to compliance. One councilmember said they could not support a single-step increase from $200 to $1,000 for a residential zoning application and urged a more moderate approach; another councilmember said fees have not increased for many years and that an increase was overdue but also recommended reconsidering the proposed scale.

Staff response and next steps: Staff acknowledged council concerns and said the borough uses charge codes to allocate staff time to applications; they suggested implementing the changes as a trial and reassessing next year. Staff also noted that some costs shown in the analysis (for example, employee time charged to an application) reflect staff time that would otherwise be spent on other duties, and thus the borough has been subsidizing permitting work.

Outcome: The council did not take a final vote on the fee schedule at this meeting. Several council members asked for more clarity on which costs are new charges versus time already included in employee compensation. Staff was asked to return with refined numbers and a clearer explanation of the components of the proposed fee changes. The agenda packet already showed the schedule of fees as a work item, and council directed staff to revisit the proposal before adoption.