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Ellensburg adopts code change and new community development review fees to recover costs
Summary
Council adopted Ordinance 4981 and Resolution 2026-06 to move building permit fees into a resolution and set updated community development review fees designed to recover roughly 90% of review costs; changes include small-project windows fee and a biennial fee update tied to the budget.
Dan Carlson, Community Development Director, presented the second reading of Ordinance 4981 to amend the Ellensburg City Code and create a mechanism (a new section 2.42) to adopt development review fees by resolution. Carlson told council the city's fees had not kept pace with review costs and that the proposal would move building-permit fees into a resolution for easier updating.
Resolution 2026-06, adopted alongside the ordinance, sets revised fees based on the ICC building valuation table with a multiplier for plan review and inspections, a new line for projects with three or fewer windows to reduce fees on smaller jobs, and a proposed practice of updating fees every two years with the budget. Carlson said the approach is intended to capture approximately 90% of cost recovery for development review work.
Council conducted the required second reading and adopted both the ordinance and the resolution. Staff said the change will have a positive general-fund effect by shifting a larger share of development-review costs to applicants rather than taxpayers, while allowing fee adjustments on a more timely schedule.
