Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Staff proposes permit-fee restructure to recover more review costs; changes could generate up to $400,000 in 2026
Summary
City Services proposed replacing several low, volume-based grading fees with complexity-based categories, adding after-hours and SEPA/floodplain fee tiers and a small technology fee; staff said the changes could generate up to $400,000 depending on 2026 permit volume.
City Services Administrator Gloria Manz presented proposed changes to development and permitting fees on Oct. 28 intended to better reflect staff review effort and recover more of the city's processing costs. The presentation asked council to provide consensus to include the fee changes in the 2026 draft budget.
Manz said the city currently charges several low fixed fees, many based on excavation volume for grading permits, that do not align with review complexity. She proposed replacing excavation-volume thresholds with complexity-based grading and inspection categories (for example: simple site-plan reviews, projects with frontage improvements, projects with full internal street improvements, and…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
