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Commission urges Dauphin, Perry counties to review long‑unchanged subdivision review fees
Summary
Staff told the Tri‑County Regional Planning Commission subdivision review fees haven’t been updated for about 17 years and no longer cover staff costs; the commission voted to recommend county planning commissions examine and, if appropriate, update fees.
Commission staff told the Tri‑County Regional Planning Commission that subdivision review fees have not been updated in roughly 17 years and no longer cover current review costs.
Diane Myers said subdivision administration expenses for Dauphin and Perry are exceeding fee revenues and asked the commission to formally recommend that each county’s planning commission review existing fee schedules. "It's time to update those fees to reflect the level of salaries of the staff that are doing the reviews," she said, noting salary increases since 2009 have eroded fee coverage.
A motion from the floor asked Tri‑County to reach out to Dauphin and Perry counties and request their input on updating the fee schedules; the motion was seconded and approved by voice vote. Commissioners discussed that the recommendation would be a request to county planning commissions to evaluate fees rather than an immediate fee change.
The issue was framed as a budgetary/practical one: staff are managing hours to limit expense overruns, and a formal county review would allow fee adjustments to better align revenue with the actual cost of subdivision review work.
