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City staff outlines targeted fee increases for development review to replenish enterprise reserves
Summary
Planning manager Stan Sexton said the Development Review Enterprise proposes targeted fee adjustments—averaging about 16% for selected permit types like hillside and sign permits—to balance cost-of-service and rebuild a reserve fund drawn down over recent years; final action will come later in the budget process.
Stan Sexton, planning manager, presented proposed fee adjustments for the Development Review Enterprise (DRE) planning functions, emphasizing a cost-of-service approach and a narrow set of tactical changes rather than across-the-board increases.
Sexton said the DRE’s methodology looks at staffing needs required to meet service timeframes and that certain permit types (notably hillside residential and sign permits) require additional field inspection work and therefore are candidates for targeted increases. He told council the proposal averages roughly a 16% increase across certain fee types and that the revenue estimate tied to these adjustments is in the low millions, which staff expect will help replenish a reserve fund that had been drawn down over the past several years.
Council members probed the reserve’s size and purpose. Kevin Walker and Sexton said the reserve had been as high as nearly $6,000,000 in prior years and was down more recently; based on the most recently available accounting the reserve was about $3,000,000 (they noted that finance provides a year-behind snapshot). Sexton clarified prior draws had supported fire construction services and that the DRE’s fee adjustments aim to rebalance the enterprise so planning is not subsidizing other inspection functions.
Council asked for additional reporting: members requested an accounting of where prior reserve drawdowns were spent and a timeline for the enterprise accountability committee to recommend a target reserve level. Sexton and staff agreed to follow up with more detailed numbers and documentation prior to final budget action.
What’s next: Staff will provide a follow-up memo with reserve-history details and bring final fee resolutions through the council’s budget process.
