Trustees adopt a 3% planning technology fee and a maintenance fee for unused water SFEs

Staff presented two fee changes for trustee approval: a technology fee of 3% on applicable building, planning and zoning application fees to help cover licensing and maintenance costs for the GovPilot permitting system, and an annual maintenance fee for unused single‑family equivalents (SFEs) reserved through the town’s water allocation program.

Planning staff said that applying a 3% technology fee to application fees would have generated roughly $1,400 year‑to‑date through May 2026 and, at current activity levels, would be expected to raise about $3,500 annually toward software costs that total about $14,000 per year. “A 3% technology fee would have generated approximately $1,400,” staff reported.

On the water side, staff proposed reinstating a maintenance fee for SFEs that remain reserved but unused after the first five years of allocation. The recommended approach ties the annual fee to the current per‑SFE rate: staff suggested a maintenance charge equal to 25% of the SFE fee for each year (years six through nine) to discourage indefinite reservation and reflect opportunity cost. Staff stated that fee refunds would not be provided for returned SFEs.

Trustees debated the merit of charging a technology fee, with one member saying add‑on charges increase housing costs and should be absorbed as a baseline operational cost rather than passed to applicants. The board moved and adopted resolution No. 47 to update the fee schedule; the motion passed with one trustee recorded as opposed to the technology fee.