Lifetime Citizen Portal Access — AI Briefings, Alerts & Unlimited Follows
Council debates giving staff discretion to reduce temporary certificate of occupancy fees
Loading...
Summary
Councilmembers discussed proposed amendments to the master fee schedule to let building or planning directors exercise discretion over temporary certificate of occupancy (TCO) fee reductions, raising concerns about monthly doubling, the need for guardrails, and potential appeal thresholds for large fines.
At the Jan. 27 Pflugerville City Council work session, the Chair introduced a council discussion on proposed amendments to the master fee schedule to allow discretion over temporary certificate of occupancy (TCO) fee reductions.
The Chair said the intent is to give the building official or planning and development services director authority similar to that already used by the PAWS director to reduce certain fees in specified scenarios. "If he's legitimately progressing towards getting a permanent CO, that would be certainly onerous and inequitable," the Chair said, referring to a case in which a TCO fee would have already risen to $4,000 and would double again the following month.
Councilmembers expressed broad support for flexibility but urged guardrails. One councilmember called the current doubling structure "punitive," warning that fees that double each month can grow very large. Another councilmember recommended creating an application or an appeal path — such as a city-manager recommendation or review by planning and zoning or the council — for high-dollar exceptions. Several members suggested implementing an upper cap on doubling or a threshold above which appeals must go to council.
Council discussion emphasized three priorities: retaining tools to enforce compliance, providing fairness and case-by-case discretion, and adding governance or oversight so an employee is not left at risk for approving a reduction in good faith. One member said they would "want to see some sort of governance" and suggested the city manager be held responsible for decisions if not the governing body.
The Chair said the ordinance draft was not ready and would be returned to a future agenda; no ordinance was introduced or voted on at the work session. Council directed staff to have the city attorney draft a policy or ordinance that details criteria, oversight, and an appeals process for substantial TCO fee reductions.
Next steps: city attorney to draft the ordinance or policy; the item will return to a future council agenda for formal consideration and potential vote.
