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DBI seeks a centralized development-fee unit and supplemental staff; commission forwards request to Mayor and supervisors
Summary
DBI told the Building Inspection Commission it plans a centralized development-fee collection unit, a mechanism to defer impact fees until certificate of occupancy (with a surcharge), and requested a supplemental appropriation to add temporary staff; the commission voted to forward the supplemental and ordinance requests.
The Department of Building Inspection presented legislation and a fiscal supplemental on Nov. 18 to centralize the collection and administration of development-impact and in-lieu fees.
Pamela Levin described the proposed unit's functions: compile fee amounts across city agencies, publish a citywide development-fee register, accept in-kind public-benefit arrangements only if they are implemented before issuance of the first certificate of occupancy, and permit a time-limited deferral of cash payments until occupancy in exchange for a surcharge. DBI said administrative fees from the unit would pay for staff and operations and that the Planning Commission and other agencies would be engaged during implementation.
To support those operations and related workload (including MOUs for large projects and a new vacant-and-abandoned building registry), DBI requested a supplemental appropriation of about $919,000 for FY 2009'10 and six limited-duration positions this fiscal year (annualizing to 12 positions next year). The positions would fund plan review and inspection work for MOUs, a clerical position to manage the vacant/abandoned registry, and staff time for the development-fee collection unit; DBI also requested funds for a City Attorney work order to support code-enforcement litigation tied to those priorities.
Commissioners pressed staff about system integration for fee-tracking and whether DBI will need additional permanent staffing; DBI said it will seek to redeploy existing staff and use the supplemental to fund limited-duration hires while deferring longer-term decisions until revenue and workload become clearer. The commission voted unanimously to forward the supplemental and related salary-ordinance changes to the Mayor's Office and Board of Supervisors.
